Who's in The Running For The Vacant Sauber F1 Seat in 2025? Analysing The Candidates

As of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, Kick Sauber has still not announced who will be partnering Nico Hülkenberg at the Swiss outfit for the 2025 Formula 1 season.

After seemingly missing out on their Williams-bound top target in Carlos Sainz, the team that will form into Audi in 2026 has no shortage of options on the table when it comes to drivers who, throughout 2024 have been making great accounts for themselves not just in Formula 1 but, in other highly competitive championships alike.

Here are some of the names in the mix and what they bring to the table for Sauber next year:

Valtteri Bottas - A Proven Winner

In recent interviews over the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, Valtteri Bottas has stated he feels "Actually, I am driving better than what I did at Mercedes. But, obviously it's not that visible".

Sauber has languished towards the lower end of the grid throughout the season, they had flashes of stronger pace from Japan to China but from then on, the team has faded and is still without any points this season. The Finn's highest finish this year is 13th at the Monaco Grand Prix whilst his teammate Guanyu Zhou finished 9th in the Sprint at his home Grand Prix in China. He's at risk of having his first season in Formula 1 without scoring a single point.

In addition, in their qualifying head-to-head battle this season, Bottas has out-qualified Zhou 16-1 in the 2024 season and has beaten him in a Grand Prix 11-6.

He is a consistent performer especially in qualifying in recent times, ironing out some of the mistakes he would make during critical flashpoints fighting with Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen whilst at Mercedes. He is still sometimes passive when it comes to overtaking and defending, he certainly isn't a driver who takes a lot of risk which is something that Sauber or Audi could take a likeness of.

Whilst having a slight dip in form this year compared to his previous years at Sauber, there is no doubt that Valtteri is a serial race winner, a safe option who has experience working in the team, a selfless team player and a strong qualifier.

Guanyu Zhou - Stability And Strong Investment

The start of the season was a fairly positive one for Guanyu Zhou, with a good performance coming in the opening race in Bahrain with a superb drive from 17th on the grid to finish in 11th place, in addition to an emotional weekend for the first Chinese Formula 1 Driver as he netted P9 in front of his roaring home crowd in the China Sprint.

From then on in, it's been a tale of woe. Due to the lack of performance from the C44 his chance of scoring points was little to none and throughout this year, has been out-qualified and out-performed by Bottas on more occasions than not.

In seasons previous when Sauber has had strong pace at circuits like; Silverstone in 2022, Hungary in 2022 and 2023 and the likes of Qatar in 2023. Zhou has never completely underperformed when the car is in a great window and able to score points on pace alone. Whether in Qualifying or the race, he was always been a few steps behind Bottas and was never in those moments dramatically underperforming.

He does bring wealth from Chinese sponsorship, is still only 25 years of age and would like Bottas, be a stable fit in the team.

However, with Bottas providing more consistency, outperforming Zhou in their years together and with the Finn being a multiple-race winner, he looks the more attractive option for 2025. It's looking more likely that this will be Zhou's final year in Formula 1.

Theo Pourchaire - Hindered by Off Track Controversy

The 2023 FIA Formula 2 World Champion was looking forward to a run in Super Formula with Team Impul in a bid to impress bosses at Sauber that he should be in the running for a 2025 seat.

That's what Red Bull Junior Liam Lawson did the previous year in his preparation for Formula 1. Super Formula is closer in overall cornering speeds and a better feeling of high-level downforce relative to Formula 1, compared to a Formula 2 car it doesn't simulate this to anywhere near the same degree.

Theo only managed to complete one race, finishing 18th before leaving the Super Formula championship and signing a deal to race for Arrow McLaren in the NTT Indycar Series after the Indy 500 for the second half of the season. He was outspoken about his decision and stated that his drive in Super Formula "was unlikely to provide a platform for him to bid for a seat on the Formula 1 grid in 2025" alluding to the pace of Team Impul (currently 8th in the team's standings) and there lack of any title charge.

At least he could now focus on Indycar and try and make a good account for himself with what little he had left of the 2024 season. But, it seemed his nightmare had only just begun as the Frenchman was unexpectedly ousted from the team after signing what he said was a "multi-year contract" with the team, committing his future away from Formula 1.

Arrow McLaren's head of sporting director and Indycar legend Tony Kanaan explained: "he didn't do anything wrong". But, in an explanation he gave to motorsports.com, he outlined that Pourchaire had been brought in to fill the vacant seat of Alexander Rossi due to injury and they want drivers who can fight for victories. Nolan Siegal, America's upcoming star was signed on a multi-year deal to replace Pourchaire.

In conclusion, it's safe to say it is one of the most bizarre off-track debacles we have seen from any junior driver in some time. Despite winning the 2023 Formula 2 championship on his third attempt with ART Grand Prix, his delayed success hasn't boosted his Formula 1 prospects, the top talents and future world champions of the sport will win immediately, in their rookie years such as; Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri, George Russell and Charles Leclerc.

He appears to not be favoured by Sauber after his attempts in Super Formula and Indycar were not fruitful. His career seems to have been poorly managed by Sauber and those around him during this "prep year" which, if managed correctly and been placed into a relevant championship for a full season could have boosted his chance of getting a seat in the sports top flight.

Franco Colapinto - Surprise of The Season

The biggest surprise of the Formula 1 season, super sub Franco Colapinto. The Argentinian replaced Logan Sargent after the Dutch Grand Prix, with the American's fiery crash in FP3 marking the end of a difficult 2 years with the Grove outfit, his lack of development and costly damage bills forced team principal James Vowles to make a change in the pursuit of scoring regular points with both cars.

In steps Williams Junior, 21-year-old Argentinian Franco Colapinto from Pilar, Buenos Aries. He was placed highest out of all the Williams Junior drivers in Formula 2 and already was making a good account for himself in the lower formulas. He obtained a sensational Sprint Race victory in Imola, driving around the outside of Paul Aaron's Hitech in Turn 1 to seize the lead on the final lap of the race.

His first Formula 1 weekend in Monza was slightly hindered by a mistake in qualifying on his final push-lap placing him 18th on the grid, he fought back in the race with a risk-averse drive showing his incredible raw pace in free air during stints to net him P12 on debut.

At Azerbaijan, he was even stronger and produced a memorable drive to P8, qualifying ahead of superstar teammate Alex Albon and fending off Oliver Bearman and Lewis Hamilton for multiple laps. During last week's race he showed his full skillset; raw pace, defending superbly against a 7 time Formula 1 World Champion, bouncing back from a crash in FP1 something that Logan Sargent couldn't manage and his consistency lap after lap to stay out of trouble in the tough streets of Baku.

It's too early to say if he truly deserves a seat for next year, but, if he repeats this form for the rest of the season and stays within touching distance of Alex Albon. He is certainly at the front of the queue and thoroughly deserves a Formula 1 seat in 2025.

Gabriel Bortoleto - A New Rising Star

McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto has done nothing but impress once again, The Brazilian is leading another championship in his rookie season and is fighting with Red Bull Junior Isack Hadjar for glory in FIA Formula 2 in 2024.

McLaren signed Bortoleto after he won the Formula 3 championship with Trident in 2023, he has been managed by Fernando Alonso from the age of 16 and is aiming to join the likes of Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri in winning back-to-back modern F2 and F3 championships in his rookie season.

For Sauber to poach Bortoleto from McLaren it would be a challenge, McLaren is currently leading the constructor's title so the appeal to stay to learn from a top team, develop the car and potentially try and sneak into a seat if anything was to happen to Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri regarding their inter-team politics or desire to go elsewhere. This, however, seems extremely unlikely.

The best option would be for McLaren to loan the Brazilian out to Sauber, something that Red Bull and other teams have done in the past such as; Carlos Sainz being loaned out to Renault from 2017 to 2018, Alex Albon being loaned out to Williams in 2022 and Mercedes Juniors Esteban Ocon and Pascal Werhlein were loaned out to Manor Racing for the 2016 season as part of there engine deal.

Similar to Colapinto, depending on how his season ends you can not ignore his feat of winning back-to-back champions as a rookie and his parent team McLaren should allow him on loan to develop and show the world his talent at the top-tier of motorsports.