Threatened F1 Driver Disappointed With Audi’s 2025 Choice: “Nico Hulkenberg is German”

Despite his wealth of experience in the F1 world, current Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas might be without a seat in 2025. The Finn’s contract expires at the end of the current campaign. With Audi set to takeover Sauber in 2026, the team has decided to sign German driver Nico Hulkenberg. However, this decision has left Bottas far from impressed.

As quoted by Speed Week, he said. “For me, the main thing is that I stay here at Sauber and then become an Audi driver. I can use my experience when the new generation of racing cars arrives in 2026. Nico (Hulkenberg) is German, and Audi said they wanted a German driver. But I wouldn’t have expected that a pilot for 2025 would have been confirmed so early.”

However, soon after Hulkenberg’s announcement, the current Sauber man has started evaluating his options. “I’m talking to several teams, some negotiations are a little further along than others,” Bottas revealed.

Since someone of the caliber of Bottas is also facing the pressure of the silly season, it just shows how ruthless F1 can be even for the best of drivers. So, with Hulkenberg occupying one Sauber seat, Bottas may have to make way.

Moreover, even Bottas’ teammate, Zhou Guanyu, could be left without a seat in 2025. With plenty of movement still expected in the silly season, it will be interesting to see how it pans out.

Recent sudden change highlights how Valtteri Bottas is not in Sauber’s future plans

Sauber is already taking steps in preparation for its transition into an Audi works team. One of the many changes came with the replacement of Valtteri Bottas’ race engineer.

Steven Petrik was appointed as Bottas’ new race engineer, a move that caused trouble for the Finn in Miami. When quizzed about it, team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi revealed the reason behind the change and defended Petrik’s integration.

As quoted by Motorsport-Nextgen-Auto, Bravi revealed, “(CEO) Andreas Seidl has decided to initiate a transition to bring the current structure closer to the final structure that will be in place in 2026. We spoke to Valtteri after China. We had a meeting immediately after the race. Steven Petrik had already been with Valtteri in Pirelli’s two-day test at Suzuka.”

Even if the change wasn’t as sudden, changing a driver’s race engineer is a drastic step. However, the team’s spokesperson revealed this step has no connection with Nico Hulkenberg’s signing. The change is made only to bring the team’s structure closer to what it will look like after the Audi takeover.