What Audi’s major decision means for its first F1 line-up

Audi’s change of plan in buying 100% of Sauber for its 2026 Formula 1 entry has added some certainty to the project and how it will work – with one glaring unknown remaining.

While the major pieces are now being put in place for Audi, the driver line-up seems far from settled.

It would be a big surprise if the current Sauber pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu is retained for 2025, let alone beyond that.

Bottas has talked enthusiastically about trying to be part of the Audi project having moved from the very front of the grid from Mercedes to join Sauber in 2022.

As for Zhou, he’s a popular, hard-working part of the team with great application, and Audi greatly values the Chinese market. But in his third season of F1 there is no real sign of him becoming more than just a solid midfield operator.

Neither is to blame for the team’s underwhelming 2023 and limp start to 2024, but Audi wants experience, speed and marketability for its works team and Bottas and Zhou don’t tick all of those boxes.

The driver market is in a state of flux at the moment, making some choice free agents available who would be a good fit for the Audi works team. But the competition for their services will be fierce.

The race winners that are out of contract for 2025 and/or 2026 are Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Daniel Ricciardo and Bottas. For podium finishers add Alex Albon and Lance Stroll to the list.

Most of them will be shopping around but with different levels of availability.

If Alonso wants to keep racing, for example, he will be holding out for something more proven – like a Mercedes drive or the Red Bull seat should that team’s ongoing troubles create a sudden opening.

But if neither path opens up then even staying with his current Aston Martin team would probably be more appealing than rolling the dice on Sauber and Audi.

At the other end of the spectrum, a perennial midfielder like Nico Hulkenberg would be less averse to committing to a sideways move back to Sauber – a team he drove for in 2013 – next year if it came with a guaranteed Audi contract for 2026 (and ideally longer).

Hulkenberg is on Audi’s radar, as Sauber and Audi F1 team CEO Andreas Seidl is a fan and already courted him for 2024.

Ferrari exile Sainz is another of Seidl’s preferred targets. He’s been on the radar for a year or so and is a more realistic option now that he knows for sure he’s out of Ferrari at the end of 2024.

There will be other teams interested in a proven grand prix winner, though, so it may depend on whether Sainz covets an Audi seat enough – otherwise, Audi will be relying on him being low enough on rivals’ shopping lists to still be available.

The same goes for Albon and Ocon, who have proven themselves capable of achieving at a good level but are currently…