10x F1 race winner emerges as frontrunner for the second seat at Sauber: Reports

Finnish F1 driver Valtteri Bottas is likely to retain his seat at Kick Sauber for the 2025 season. Reports suggest that the 10-time Formula 1 race winner has emerged as the frontrunner for the second seat next year, alongside Nico Hulkenberg.

With Sauber set to become Audi in 2026, the F1 team was initially looking at grabbing Ferrari's Carlos Sainz as their second driver for 2025 and beyond. However, with Sainz choosing Williams over both Alpine and Sauber, the latter began scouting for alternatives to the Spaniard.

While McLaren's junior racer Gabriel Bortoleto is likely to be a choice for the upcoming German outfit, it is also looking at retaining the #77 racer for the 2025 season, as reported by the Italian edition of Autosport.com.

Although Sauber is the only team that has been unable to score a point in the 2024 F1 season, the ex-Mercedes AMG driver has put faith in the constructor's future. Bottas believes that the team will have better development plans under the leadership of Mattia Binotto, Kick Sauber's new CTO and CEO.

"I put full trust in Mattia. He knows how to lead a team and I think he's learned a lot in the last weeks what the team needs. Now it's actually the first time he'll be on track observing how we operate, so I'm sure he'll pick up even more," Bottas told Autosport.com, ahead of the Italian GP.

"This season we're not expecting any miracles. I think what Mattia's presence can do is to help next year," he added.

Bottas further spoke about the conversation regarding his contract extension with Binotto at the team's factory.

"I think there's interest on both ways. And, yeah, we've made some progress. But I don't want to give anything more than that," Bottas said, clarifying the situation.

With just nine races remaining this year, Finnish F1 fans will be interested to see where the 35-year-old ends up next year.

---

"I’m more than happy if I lose the seat against him" - Zhou Guanyu is open to losing the F1 seat to Valtteri Bottas for the 2025 season

Chinese racer Zhou Guanyu opened up about the possibility of losing his drive in the 2025 Formula 1 season. The youngster claimed he would be fine in losing the Kick Sauber seat to his teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Speaking with Crash.net, Guanyu acknowledged the possibility of not being on the grid next year.

“I’m completely open in this topic. I don’t feel like if I don’t have a seat I will be very upset about it," he said. "Fighting for a seat with Valtteri, either one of us have it, I’m more than happy if I lose the seat against him."

Zhou Guanyu also claimed that he is willing to accept the role of reserve driver, should he lose the full-time seat with Sauber.