Felipe Massa names driver that should get Sauber seat after doing a ‘much better job’ than Franco Colapinto

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Franco Colapinto has impressed many in the Formula 1 paddock with how quickly he has got up to speed with Alex Albon at Williams.

Despite a small setback on Friday during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Colapinto managed to outqualify Alex Albon and subsequently went on to finish in the points on Sunday.

Colapinto was briefly running outside of the top ten when he closed in on Nico Hulkenberg at the end of the race, overtaking him with a handful of laps to run for 10th place.

He was later promoted to eighth following a collision between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz on the penultimate lap, enabling him to outscore Logan Sargeant’s career total in just two races.

Despite this impressive start to his Williams career, former F1 driver Felipe Massa believes there is another driver who should be in consideration for a seat in 2025 when speaking on the Motorsport Brazil podcast.

Felipe Massa believes Gabriel Bortoleto should get Sauber seat

With theoretically only one space left on the grid now that Red Bull is likely to look in-house towards who will partner Yuki Tsunoda, attention has turned to who will get the Sauber seat.

Team manager Mattia Binotto has stated that he would prefer a driver with experience such as Valtteri Botttas, but the performances from Colapinto and Oliver Bearman have made some change their mind.

When discussing the second seat alongside Nico Hulkenberg, Massa has stated which driver he thinks deserves the opportunity.

“I don’t know the contract situation, but we really hope that Gabriel has the opportunity [to sign to Sauber] because up until these two races for Colapinto, Gabriel did a much better job [in F2] than him and he deserves more.”

Colapinto was promoted to Williams due to his affiliation to the team, while Gabriel Bortoleto is part of the McLaren Driver Academy. He currently leads the F2 championship heading into the final two rounds, while Colapinto got as high as seventh before his F1 opportunity.

Franco Colapinto could miss out on Sauber seat due to issue out of his control

Colapinto was initially touted as a potential driver for Sauber after his two performances in Monza and Baku, but now it appears there could be another factor standing in his way.

Sauber is reportedly ‘very close’ to signing Hulkenberg’s teammate, but it is understood that Colapinto is not on the shortlist due to his lack of funding.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Sauber and Audi F1 chief Mattia Binotto

Although the Argentine brings a wealth of sponsors to his Williams drive, it would not be enough to cover the start of a season with Sauber.

This leaves limited options on the table for Sauber, who could either go with an experienced hand in Bottas or take a gamble on a rookie such as Bortoleto who looks set to win the F2 title.