Mattia Binotto could ‘sacrifice’ a friend if he makes one Audi signing for 2025

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Mattia Binotto needs to find a teammate for Nico Hulkenberg. It’s arguably his highest priority after taking over as the boss of the Audi F1 project.

Audi unexpectedly sacked Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffman back in July, with Binotto starting his post at the beginning of August. Nearly six weeks on, he still hasn’t ended the uncertainty around the team’s driver line-up.

Together with the two Red Bull teams, Audi are one of the last remaining participants in the driver market. They had hoped to sign Carlos Sainz, but he joined Williams instead, and if there was a plan b or plan c they too were evidently unavailable.

Perhaps the simplest option would be to re-sign Valtteri Bottas. Bottas has outperformed teammate Zhou Guanyu quite comfortably this year and has built a reputation as a reliable, if unspectacular, driver.

But Binotto doesn’t seem entirely convinced, otherwise he might have struck a deal with the Finn already. He’s also looking at a series of young drivers both inside and outside the Sauber family.

Audi are interested in McLaren’s Gabriel Bortoleto, while Sauber juniors Zane Maloney and Theo Pourchaire are contenders too. Aston Martin’s Felipe Drugovich has also been mentioned.

Mick Schumacher move could damage Mattia Binotto’s friendship with Guenther Steiner

Speaking on the F1-Insider YouTube channel, journalist Ralf Bach raised a concern about another of the candidates, Mick Schumacher. The German, son of seven-time world champion Michael, previously spent two years with Haas in 2021 and 2022.

While there, he was managed by Guenther Steiner, the now-departed team principal. Steiner ran out of patience with Schumacher and pivoted towards a more experienced line-up of Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen.

Earlier this year, Steiner told Alpine not to sign Schumacher to replace Esteban Ocon. The 59-year-old shares a close relationship with Binotto and may be offering similar advice regarding Audi.

Binotto and co. dropped Schumacher from the Ferrari family after his Haas exit. He subsequently took on a reserve role at Mercedes.

“One of his best friends is Guenther Steiner,” Bach said of Binotto. “There are photos of them drinking wine together in vineyards and organising their free time. Why should he sacrifice or question his good friend by giving Mick the chance?”

Why James Vowles didn’t want to sign Audi target Mick Schumacher for Williams

If Audi don’t offer Schumacher a seat, then he’ll spend a third consecutive year on the sidelines. It would be hard to see him ever returning in that instance.

He has been heavily endorsed by some big names in the paddock. For instance, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella urged Williams to sign Schumacher after sacking Logan Sargeant.

He’s had the chance to work with him thank to McLaren’s relationship with Mercedes. What’s more, Toto Wolff said Schumacher was ‘super’ in a 2022 F1 car test for Alpine.

That wasn’t enough to convince James Vowles, however. Vowles isn’t the ‘biggest fan’ of Schumacher given his history of accidents and his poor head-to-head record against Magnussen.