Which driver is ahead in race for 2025 Sauber seat between Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto

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Sauber may be the only pointless team on the grid this season, but despite their worrying form, they’ve got a handful of extremely talented drivers they can choose from for their 2025 driver line-up.

Audi are in de facto charge of who will race for Sauber during their final year on the grid next year and Nico Hulkenberg was secured early in the campaign to help lead their efforts.

Hiring a teammate for the experienced German has proven much trickier after they missed out on Carlos Sainz as he chose to join Williams instead.

Sauber have the option of sticking with Valtteri Bottas which would be sensible given his experience in the sport.

However, Mattia Binotto also has two extremely exciting young drivers on his radar for 2025.

The first is McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto who is currently leading the Formula 2 championship in his rookie year.

READ MORE: Who is Gabriel Bortoleto? F2 and McLaren junior driver’s age, nationality, stats and more

Binotto has held conversations with Bortoleto and the idea of a Brazilian returning to the grid would be very popular at Interlagos.

Their neighbours Argentina also have a candidate in Franco Colapinto, who has emerged from nowhere after his Williams debut in Monza.

Speaking on The Race Podcast, journalist Samarth Kanal has shared which of these drivers he believes is ahead in Sauber’s thinking at this stage.

Colapinto has the advantage of proving he can do it in Formula 1 by outscoring Logan Sargeant’s career points tally in two races, but Bortoleto was demonstrably the quicker driver of the pair when they raced each other in F2.

Franco Colapinto now ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto in Sauber’s thinking

Talking about the driver situation, Kanal said: “Bottas might be close to signing, but they’ll definitely be considering who else to pick up.

“Bortoleto, I must say, is a very talented driver. But the thing is, he is still young and fresh and you really have to commit to that.

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

“I’ve got to say Colapinto would probably be ahead of him in the pecking order on that, just because of this performance here and the fact that he conducts himself so well.

“It probably depends on other factors, whether you can pry them off the hands of McLaren or Williams respectively.”

Franco Colapinto faces key issue in his efforts to secure 2025 Sauber seat

Colapinto has been brilliant during his first two Grand Prix and aside from a small mistake in qualifying in Monza and a crash in practice in Baku, he’s almost matched more experienced teammate Alex Albon.

Williams have taken steps forward with their car which is why Sargeant’s expensive crash at the Dutch Grand Prix which destroyed many of his upgrades became such an issue.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Williams driver Franco Colapinto with praise to stats

The young Argentine may be a strong option for Sauber but there’s more to being an F1 driver than just being fast.

Colapinto may not have the funding to justify a Sauber seat and if that’s the case, then he may have to rely on becoming a reserve driver instead while he raises the required cash.

Getting back into an F1 car after losing a seat is incredibly difficult, especially for a driver who will only have nine Grand Prix weekends under his belt.

However, Colapinto has time on his side and if he keeps putting in strong performances, then team principals won’t hesitate to call upon him if another vacant seat comes up.