Valtteri Bottas contract issues giving ‘incredible’ driver ‘particular hope’ of 2025 Sauber race seat

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Sauber have had a Formula 1 season to forget and appear to be no closer to knowing what their finalised driver pairing will be for 2025.

With just six race weekends remaining, Sauber need to hope for a miracle if they want Valtteri Bottas or Zhou Guanyu to score their first points of the season.

The pair are regularly racing each other to avoid finishing last at each Grand Prix, while progressing to Q2 is seen as a success given how far off the pace they are at the moment.

Nico Hulkenberg may be wondering what he’s signed up for in 2025 after confirming much earlier in the campaign that he would be leaving Haas for Sauber next year.

The promise of driving for the works Audi team in 2026 will at least give him something to look forward to, but it’s hard to see Sauber making much progress over the winter with new regulations on the horizon.

Bottas is seen as the favourite to be retained by Sauber for their second seat, but that move doesn’t appear to be straightforward.

Sauber and Bottas are having problems agreeing on a contract which may open up an opportunity for another driver.

A report from the German outlet Sport.de has suggested another name in the race to join the F1 grid next year.

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The likes of Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto are in the conversation to be called up by Sauber.

However, the report suggests that Bottas’s contract problems is giving ‘particular hope’ to Mick Schumacher.

Schumacher is currently a Mercedes reserve driver and racing in the World Endurance Championship this year.

However, the ‘incredible’ driver’s ambition is to race in Formula 1 once again.

Mick Schumacher given ‘particular hope’ by Valtteri Bottas failing to agree Sauber contract

The report from Sport.de talks about how Helmut Marko has previously dismissed Schumacher as an option for RB.

However, they mention that in a recent interview that Marko did, he admitted that if Schumacher doesn’t get back on the grid in 2025, then his F1 career is over.

This is why the second Sauber seat is so important and if Bottas can’t agree a new deal with the team, then Schumacher is someone who has received ‘particular hope’ that he could do a deal instead.

READ MORE: Who is F1 reserve and Alpine WEC star Mick Schumacher? Everything to know

The 25-year-old has secured a podium for Alpine in WEC this year, but the unreliability of the car has made challenging for race wins difficult.

Schumacher was forced to retire from the 24 Hours of Le Mans for this reason but ultimately, his ambition is to return to F1 to showcase his talents.

Unfortunately, even if he did earn a move to Sauber, he’d arguably be in a worse place than his difficult two-year stint with Haas when they also had the slowest car on the grid.

Bernie Ecclestone backs Mick Schumacher’s return to Formula 1

The name Schumacher is notorious with F1 and while Mick hasn’t yet looked capable of matching his father Michael’s achievements, he’s clearly talented.

A previous Formula 2 champion, until he’s put in a car that can regularly compete at least in the midfield, it’s hard to know whether he has the required level of skill to be an established Formula 1 driver.

Losing out in a head-to-head with Kevin Magnussen didn’t do his reputation any good, but Bernie Ecclestone recently admitted that he wants Schumacher back in F1.

Schumacher has a relationship with Mattia Binotto from their time together at Ferrari.

However, that doesn’t appear to be a clinching factor for the German, as Bottas also has much stronger ties to Binotto than his predecessor Andreas Seidl.

Bortoleto has also held talks with Binotto, and it doesn’t appear as though Sauber are any closer to making a final decision at this stage.