Breaking: Sauber announces "Stake F1 team" as its official name for its pre-Audi era

Sauber has finally announced their F1 team's official name: Stake F1 Team. This title will be used by the Hinwil-based outfit in 2024 and 2025 until German giant Audi enters Formula 1 and merges with Sauber. The team, which competed in 2023 as Alfa Romeo, had been teasing F1 fans for quite some time with humorous social media posts about their new name. Hence, this was an anticipated announcement.

Sauber's team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi spoke about how Stake's journey in F1 started in 2023, adding that it was exciting to see the company representing the team on the grid. The team's official statement quoted Bravi as saying:

“Last season represented the start of Stake’s journey in Formula One, and the brand’s new role headlining Stake F1 Team represents the natural and exciting next step on this path...2024 will be a new page and the chance to do more, better, and reach even farther: we are looking forward to an even more exciting calendar of events in this new season.”

Co-founder of Stake, Edward Craven, also shared a few thoughts on how thrilled he was to announce the name and how the team will be fueled with passion for speed and innovation. He was quoted as saying:

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to bring an electrifying and brand-new identity into our Formula One team, kickstarting the F1 season with a bold team name, Stake F1 Team. Fuelled by deep passion for speed, innovation, and pushing boundaries, we are now ideally positioned to take the team to unprecedented heights from 2024 and beyond.”

After Alfa Romeo's departure, Sauber decided to initially have 'Kick Sauber' at the end of their current official name. However, they have now removed their own and Kick.com's branding from the team's title.

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Valtteri Bottas eager to stay at Sauber and be a part of Audi

Valtteri Bottas recently spoke about how his current team will soon be undergoing massive changes as it plans to merge with Audi in 2026.

Speaking to the Daily Express, he claimed that his focus will be on being a part of the project and continuing with Audi. He said (via formu1a.uno):

“It’s interesting times in F1 obviously. I think there’s actually many drivers without contracts [beyond 2024] so it’s going to be quite interesting actually to follow how things are going to fall into place. For me the goal is clear. I would definitely want to be a part of the Audi project, so that’s my goal and we’ll find out next year what happens.”

The Stake F1 team ended the 2023 F1 season in ninth place with only 16 points in their pocket.