‘Remarkable’ 11-podium F2 driver is on Mattia Binotto’s list for 2025 Audi seat

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Sauber are one of three teams who have yet to confirm their driver line-up for the 2025 Formula 1 season. It was back in April that they announced the signing of Nico Hulkenberg, but they’ve made little progress in finding a teammate.

Carlos Sainz was their top target, but he’s agreed to join Williams instead. While the 2026 Audi takeover brings long-term promise, Sauber’s dismal 2024 season – they still haven’t scored a point after 16 races – may have dissuaded Sainz.

After Mercedes confirmed the arrival of Kimi Antonelli, Sauber, Red Bull and RB are the only teams still weighing up their options. Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson are involved in a three-way battle, with Isack Hadjar an outside option.

But the race to partner Hulkenberg seems even more open. The incumbent Valtteri Bottas remains in contention, though Zhou Guanyu may be entering the final eight races of his F1 career.

Zhou can offer £27m in sponsorship money, but that’s less important now that a brand the size of Audi are assuming control. They can afford to make a decision based on performance alone.

The Chinese driver is above Bottas in the championship (19th vs 22nd) by virtue of an 11th-place finish at the season opener in Bahrain. But he’s trailing the qualifying head-to-head 12-4, and the race-day battle 10-5.

Zane Maloney rivalling Valtteri Bottas and Mick Schumacher for 2025 Audi seat

According to German publication Auto Motor und Sport, new Audi boss Mattia Binotto has drawn up a ‘long list’ for the second seat. Bottas is the only experienced driver who features.

Mick Schumacher, who spent two seasons at Haas in 2020 and 2021, is also an option. But aside from that, Binotto is looking at potential rookies.

Zane Maloney and Theo Pourchaire, both of whom are on Sauber’s books already, could receive a promotion. Felipe Drugovich and Gabriel Bortoleto, part of the Aston Martin and McLaren academies respectively, also get a mention.

Binotto is expected to make a decision ‘soon’, though a precise timeline isn’t specified. He knows that he will bring ‘peace’ to the team when he ends the uncertainty.

Who is ‘remarkable’ Sauber contender Zane Maloney?

In the team’s press release announcing the signing of Maloney back in January, Sauber academy director Beat Zehnder said his rise through the junior ranks had been ‘remarkable’. He won the British F4 championship back in 2019, then finished runner-up in F3 three years later.

He graduated to F2 full-time at the start of 2023 and has now taken part in 50 races. He’s only won two of those, but he has taken a commendable 11 podiums.

Maloney currently ranks third in this year’s championship, 30 points behind leader Hadjar. The 20-year-old would become the first Barbadian ever to feature in F1.

Last year’s F2 champion Pourchaire would justifiably feel hard done by if he lost out to another Sauber junior. McLaren’s Zak Brown has been blown away by the Frenchman, who took part in six IndyCar races this year.