Sauber has finally revealed the name of its new team after its partnership with title sponsor Alfa Romeo ended. The Swiss motorsport engineering company will now partner with streaming platform Kick. The 2024 chassis of the new team will now be called Kick Sauber C44. After Sauber confirmed the news, Karun Chandhok explained how the Swiss company has now partnered with a brand that will undoubtedly pay them much less than the $94 million Stake paid this season.
Taking to X, Chandhok wrote, “Poor Stake….They’ve probably paid more than Kick but in terms of brand recognition / ROI, they’re definitely losing out!”
Although Sauber has chosen Kick ahead of Stake as their chassis sponsor, it is pertinent to note that the Swiss company has not dropped the partnership with the Australian-Curaçaoan online casino company completely. Stake will continue to be one of Sauber’s partners even in the 2024 season.
Hence, the full name of the team is now Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber. Sauber is carrying out all of this rebranding ahead of Audi’s takeover in 2026. Before Audi completes the entire takeover, Sauber hopes to play a more prominent role in handling the team’s operations in the next few campaigns.
Audi is all set to take over Sauber completely by 2026
Audi has already bought a minor stake in the Sauber team and will gradually increase the same over the next couple of years before they complete the full takeover. According to reports, the German manufacturer has already invested a whopping $200,000,000 on their F1 project.
They will gradually increase their investment to $475,000,000 by the end of next season to increase their stake in Sauber to over 75%. Once they have done so, they will complete the full takeover by the end of the 2025 season.
Both Audi and Sauber have confirmed the same despite reports suggesting that the German manufacturer may pull out of the deal. Since Audi is all set to take over Sauber by 2026, the question that arises now is what will their driver line-up be then.
Over the past few months, there have been rumors that Audi is unlikely to want to continue with Sauber’s current driver line-up: Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. Some reports have claimed that the German manufacturer is hoping to convince four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel to make a sensational return to the sport and join their side.
Another driver who has heavily been linked with Audi is current Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. Several reports have suggested that the Spaniard has grown increasingly frustrated at the Italian outfit with the team focusing most of their attention on Charles Leclerc.
