TEAM PREVIEW: An all-new driver line-up and Audi on the horizon – can Kick Sauber’s 2025 bring more hope than 2024?

Alongside Hulkenberg’s experience, Sauber can also call upon the thrilling promise of Brazilian Bortoleto. The 20-year-old has quite the list of accolades to his name already, having won the 2024 Formula 2 championship and the 2023 Formula 3 championship before that.

Last season’s heroics meant he became just the fourth champion in the F2 era to win the F2 and F3 titles in successive years – following current F1 stars Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri. That’s not a bad list of drivers to already be associated with.

READ MORE: Alunni Bravi to join McLaren from Kick Sauber ahead of 2025 season

Last season

Sauber’s 2024 season was, in a word, challenging. Other similar descriptions have also been offered – former driver Zhou called it “draining” while Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer Mattia Binotto had said the team was in “survival mode”.

While the squad did at least avoid a point-less campaign thanks to Zhou’s four points in the penultimate race of the year, 2024 certainly won’t live long in the memory for those at the team as they finished dead last in the Constructors’ Championship.

Indeed, much of the news around Sauber last year was dominated by personnel changes with the aforementioned Binotto – previously Ferrari Team Principal from 2019-2022 – joining in August, following on from the exits of former CEO Andreas Seidl and Audi executive Oliver Hoffmann.

It was also announced that now former Red Bull Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley will become Team Principal, with a start date yet to be confirmed.