Ted Kravitz shares ‘latest suggestion’ he’s heard about Sauber’s 2025 seat amid Valtteri Bottas ‘fake news’

Sauber are having a torrid season and their drivers will start the Singapore Grand Prix alongside each other at the back of the grid.

Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu have both yet to score a point and will need a miracle to secure a top-ten finish at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday.

The last time Sauber competed under that name in Singapore back in 2018, Charles Leclerc grabbed a couple of points for the team before he joined Ferrari in the winter.

Since then, the team have sunk further and further down the pecking order and look set to not only finish bottom of the Constructors’ Championship, but to do so without scoring a point.

Mattia Binotto has been appointed by Audi to run their F1 project ahead of joining the grid in 2026 as Sauber’s successor.

He can already rely on Nico Hulkenberg as his first driver who had a brilliant time in qualifying on Saturday for Haas but the decision on who will join him next year has yet to be made.

Ted Kravitz was speaking on Ted’s Notebook about what he’s heard about the second seat at the Swiss team.

Ted Kravitz unsure whether Valtteri Bottas will be in Formula 1 in 2025

Speaking about the situation at Sauber after their disastrous qualifying performance, Kravitz said: “Are we looking at [Franco] Colapinto maybe to be a Sauber / Audi driver next year?

“That is the latest suggestion, or is it [Gabriel] Bortoleto or Bottas?

“In fact, Bottas is looking more like getting a drive in IndyCar maybe with Logan Sargeant next year rather than being a Sauber / Audi driver.”

F1 Grand Prix Of Singapore - Qualifying — Photo by Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

Bottas spoke to the media after his 19^th-place qualifying performance and said: “I would have preferred to have been there longer. I knew that a difficult weekend was ahead.

“It has not been possible to find more speed for the car. It is not possible to adjust the car to the ride heights where there is traction.

“We have to drive at too high ride heights. It costs a lot of time. It feels like I got everything out of the car, but there was still a clear gap ahead.”

Bottas then had the reports that he had signed a new deal with Sauber put to him and simply said: “Fake news, that’s what you can say. Nothing is signed.

“A one-year contract is not my goal here. We’ll see more next week. All kinds of writing. Let’s keep a cool head.”

James Vowles pushing Franco Colapinto to join Sauber next season

If Bottas isn’t in the frame to stay at Sauber then it’s potentially a straight shootout between Colapinto and Bortoleto.

Kravitz believes Zhou Guanyu is likely to become a reserve driver hence why he’s not expected to extend his three-year stay on the grid.

Bortoleto currently leads the Formula 2 championship and has thoroughly impressed in his debut season at that level.

Binotto has held talks with Bortoleto over recent weeks but the Brazilian now has to sit on the sidelines for two months before the next round of the championship in Qatar.

That gives Colapinto plenty of time to impress Sauber in the meantime and he was just a few thousandths behind teammate Alex Albon during qualifying in Singapore.

James Vowles has confirmed talks with Sauber about Colapinto as Williams don’t have an open seat for next year.

It would be another step on the meteoric rise for the young Argentinian.