£1.5m-a-year F1 driver caught his new team by surprise when deciding to make 2025 switch

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The 2024 Formula 1 driver’s market has created chaos and plenty of intrigue ahead of next season.

Max Verstappen is set to wrap up his fourth consecutive Drivers’ Championship with Red Bull but he may not know who his teammate will be for 2025 until after the final race in Abu Dhabi.

Elsewhere on the grid, Ferrari are preparing for Lewis Hamilton’s arrival and that move set off a chain reaction of transfers up and down the paddock.

Carlos Sainz is preparing for life with Williams, while Franco Colapinto searches for a way to stay on the grid after impressing during the interim period with the Grove-based team while he keeps the Spaniard’s seat warm for him during his final few races with the Scuderia.

However, not every move that has taken place this year in preparation for next season has been unanimously green-lighted by those behind the scenes.

A report from journalist Nelson Valkenburg for Formule1.nl has provided more details on Nico Hulkenberg’s move to Sauber.

The team with 27 podiums in their Formula 1 history have yet to score a point this season and appear to be in real trouble.

They moved quickly to bring in Hulkenberg from Haas at the beginning of the year and his form this season suggests he’ll be a fantastic addition to the team.

However, changes behind the scenes at Audi – who will take over from Sauber at the end of the 2025 season – have meant that plenty of decisions being made show a disconnect between the current team and their future employers.

Audi signed Nico Hulkenberg for 2025 without Sauber’s knowledge – Valkenburg

Earlier in the season, Audi decided to part ways with Andreas Seidl who had previously been preparing the team for their Formula 1 debut.

In his place, they hired Mattia Binotto who was previously team principal at Ferrari.

One of Binotto’s first jobs was to decide Sauber’s driver line-up for 2025, however, Hulkenberg was already tied down to an upcoming deal at this stage.

Audi previously wanted Sainz, but he turned down a move to the team who currently sit bottom of the Constructors’ Championship to join Williams instead.

This was a big blow for the team and highlighted the team’s reputation in the paddock right now.

READ MORE: Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg’s life outside F1 from wife to height

The report states that while the £1.5m-a-year driver was ‘signed early by Audi’, it was done ‘without the rest of the Sauber team knowing about it’.

While the German is by no means a poor signing – in fact, his experience with Haas should benefit Sauber greatly – the lack of communication is a worry.

Valtteri Bottas lost his trust in the Audi project at this point, while it harmed Zhou Guanyu’s confidence.

Sauber opt for rookie Gabriel Bortoleto over retaining Valtteri Bottas

Although Hulkenberg may not have been Sauber’s choice, Bottas and Zhou still had the chance to fight for the second seat beside him.

Bottas was in talks over a new contract, however, Audi decided in the end to opt for youth over experience.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber from team principal to Audi future

Whether Binotto would have hired Hulkenberg when he had Bottas available to him is another matter, but the Italian wanted a young driver with potential to join the German going forward.

A trend of promoting rookies has emerged this year and Gabriel Bortoleto is the latest driver to benefit from that shift.

The Brazilian is on the cusp of winning the Formula 2 title and will want to carry that momentum into his F1 career.