Sauber finally announced its plans for the 2025 season after an excruciatingly long wait and unfortunately for Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, it doesn’t involve them. The Hinwil-based team, who had already announced Nico Hulkenberg as one of its new drivers, recently confirmed that Gabriel Bortoleto will join them at the turn of the year.
Sauber—soon to be rebranded as Audi starting in 2026—opted for youth over experience, with rookie Bortoleto set to make his nation proud as the first Brazilian F1 driver on the grid since Felipe Massa in 2017.
*Bortoleto has been added to the group chat* pic.twitter.com/hIgBKTMuVN
— Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber (@stakef1team_ks) November 6, 2024
Although this announcement took time, change seemed inevitable. Bottas and Zhou, who had been with the team since 2022, now find themselves without a seat for the upcoming season. So, what does the future hold for these two drivers?
Valtteri Bottas
Bottas joined Sauber—then known as Alfa Romeo—in 2022, bringing a wealth of experience having won 10 races for Mercedes between 2017 and 2021. He left the Silver Arrows to reinvent himself and lead a project with a team that had big ambitions.
Unfortunately, after Fred Vasseur departed for Ferrari in 2023, things went downhill. After a sixth-place finish with 55 points in 2022 and a ninth-place finish with 16 points the following year, Sauber finds itself with zero points this season, with just three race weekends remaining. They are currently dead last in the Constructors’ Championship standings.
The lack of results cannot be blamed on Bottas on alone, as Sauber’s mechanical package has proved to be, arguably, the worst on the grid.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t a factor Sauber, or any other team, took into account while considering Bottas as its new driver. One thing is certain. He won’t be a part of the F1 grid in 2025.
However, he might make a move for a seat in the near future if opportunities arise elsewhere. Until then, he would likely enjoy taking time off to focus on a cycling career alongside his professional cyclist partner, Tiffany Cromwell.
Bottas has never fully backed himself for a racing career in other categories. But his extensive reputation in the F1 paddock might open some doors in series like World Endurance Championship (WEC), IndyCar, or even NASCAR.
In terms of an F1 return, Bottas had recently said that he wouldn’t mind driving for Mercedes again. However, with Max Verstappen in Toto Wolff’s sights and Kimi Antonelli’s blistering promotion, this looks like an unlikely prospect. At the same time, he could look at securing a reserve role within the German squad.
Zhou Guanyu
Guanyu‘s career started off on a historic note. He joined at the same time as Bottas, and became the first Chinese to be a full-time F1 driver. However, that’s where his list of accolades ended.
The Shanghai-born driver never set the paddock ablaze with his performances and often remained a forgotten figure. Throughout his time in F1, his performances were so lackluster that Sauber ultimately dropped him from its plans, meaning he was never seriously considered for a seat, unlike Bottas.
Guanyu wanted to be in F1. He admitted that he would look at other categories, but his priority was to stay in the pinnacle of motorsports. Unfortunately for him, that won’t be happening.
However, Zhou, on his Instagram, revealed that he was in talks with several teams to remain in the F1 paddock, which will almost certainly be in a reserve role.
With time still on their hands, we should expect a decision on both Guanyu and Bottas’ respective futures in due course.
