Audi targeted Carlos Sainz for the drive alongside Nico Hulkenberg for the longest of times but the Spaniard eventually decided to sign for Williams. As a result, the team is now facing the difficult task of signing Hulkenberg’s teammate. As speculation continues about who will drive alongside the German racer, Mick Schumacher’s name has come up.
According to AMuS, “Recently, the name Mick Schumacher has also been mentioned more often. The risk of signing the son of the record world champion is relatively low. Audi would be celebrated for giving the former Haas driver another chance.”
BREAKING: Mick Schumacher is a major contender for the 2025 Audi seat.
Mattia Binotto is interested in Mick Schumacher; two German drivers driving for a German team is very likely. pic.twitter.com/lsUsTBipT8
— RomanianF1 (@romanianf1) August 14, 2024
Schumacher currently drives for Alpine’s WEC team and was considered for a possible F1 team switch. However, Jack Doohan reportedly became the favorite to sign for Alpine, leaving Schumacher to look for other options.
Multiple names have been linked to the second Audi seat. IndyCar driver Alex Palou is believed to be in consideration as well. Mattia Binotto, who took over the Team Principal role at Audi, is reported as the man taking the driver decision.
Current Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou are still under consideration. In fact, Bottas recently uploaded a story on his Instagram with an Audi R8 that had his racing number 77 on the side. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso’s name has also popped up.
Nico Hulkenberg wary of the challenge that lies ahead for Audi
Becoming an F1 champion isn’t an easy task even for a manufacturer like Audi. Some reports suggest that Audi underestimated the F1 project. Hulkenberg, being the national driver for the team, will have even more pressure on him.
“It’s a big challenge, there’s no question about that. Going to Audi, which will be a German manufacturer, as a German driver, there will be a lot of attention and a lot of expectations. So, it’s not going to be an easy one”, said Hulkenberg according to RN365.
Hulkenberg is wary of the challenge ahead of him and is ready to put in his best efforts. However, if Audi wants to challenge for the championship, they’ll need to sign another star driver alongside Hulkenberg.
