When Sauber are expected to announce Valtteri Bottas as their second driver for 2025

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Sauber have been biding their time when it comes to deciding their driver line-up for next season.

Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu have had to endure one of the most difficult seasons in recent Formula 1.

Sauber – in their various guises – have slowly been slipping down the Formula 1 pecking order.

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

In the previous five seasons as Alfa Romeo, the Swiss outfit only finished above eighth in the Constructors’ Championship once.

Bottas and Zhou have yet to score a point this year after 18 race weekends and have been anchored to the back of the grid for much of the season.

Hope is on the horizon for Sauber though with the imminent takeover of German motoring giant Audi.

Their appeal was enough to convince Nico Hulkenberg that his next step in Formula 1 should be to leave Haas in 2025 for Sauber’s final year on the grid.

Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber to give them their full name, appear to have chosen Hulkenberg’s teammate and speaking on the Pit Talk Podcast, journalist Mat Coch gave more details about their decision.

READ MORE: Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas’ life outside F1 from girlfriend to wine and gin

Bottas has been waiting for a long time to see if he would be handed another Formula 1 contract.

It appears as though Sauber are going to stick with the Finn and are expected to confirm that he’ll stay with the team before the United States Grand Prix.

Sauber expected to announce Valtteri Bottas’s contract extension before the United States Grand Prix

Providing an update on the Formula 1 driver’s market, Mat Coch said: “Yeah, Franco Colapinto, or as I’ve dubbed Ayrton Colapinto because he looks so much like Ayrton Senna, it’s frightening, kind of similar in pace too, the kid is rapid.

“I think he’s going to miss out; it’s just too late in the day. It’s a little bit like Liam Lawson last year.

“He came in and shone, but it was just too late in the day to seal the deal for next year but watch for Colapinto I think he’ll certainly feature for 2026 conversations.

“My understanding is that Valtteri Bottas, if he has not signed the contract as we’re recording this, it’s pretty much done and the announcement will be made before COTA [Circuit of the Americas in Austin].”

Sauber set to make double driver announcement when confirming Valtteri Bottas’s future

Bottas wasn’t the only driver on Sauber’s shortlist and it appears as though the temptation to bring in a young driver was too much for Audi’s Mattia Binotto to resist.

Binotto has had several conversations with Gabriel Bortoleto in recent weeks with the McLaren junior impressing in Formula 2.

New Williams recruit Franco Colapinto has impressed during his first three F1 races and James Vowles outlined what Colapinto will be doing next year if a move to Sauber didn’t materialise.

Audi are preparing for the future and are expected to announce Bortoleto alongside Bottas as the team’s reserve driver for 2025.

Hulkenberg has already signed a multi-year deal that will see him race for Audi in their first season in F1.

Whether Bottas is handed the same contract is yet to be seen, but given Bortoleto’s immense potential, they won’t want him sitting around for too long, particularly if he wins the F2 championship which would prevent him from taking part in the series again in 2025.