Valtteri Bottas — (James O’Connor)
The 35-year-old Finn has done a good job this year in extremely challenging circumstances.
Sauber started the season relatively okay regarding pace, but issues with pit stops in the first third of the season took Bottas out of contention for points in Japan.
Alpine and Williams have clearly outdeveloped them since the early part of 2024, leaving Sauber at the back of the grid on their own. They have not scored a single point in this campaign so far.
So the only real opportunity for Bottas to impress has come against teammate Zhou Guanyu — and he has delivered in style on Saturdays.
Bottas leads 17-1 in qualifying, showing he still has the motivation and desire to drive at a high level when his machinery is pretty poor.
With reliability of the modern cars so good now, as well as such high driving standards throughout the grid, a team off the back has virtually no chance of scoring a point — something that was possible exactly 20 years as Jordan and Minardi showed.
It would be a real shame for Bottas if his career in F1 ended on such a low note because the C44 has been underwhelming. He deserves one more chance to prove he still has plenty in the tank.
With the rapid Nico Hülkenberg joining next year, having two very experienced drivers will really help them heading into 2026 when Audi takes complete control. If the German — who has a multi-year contract in his back pocket — is comfortably faster, there is plenty of quality rookies or young drivers available for 2026 as the new regulations come into place.
Gabriel Bortoleto — (Trisha Lynnette)
Gabriel Bortoleto, the 20-year-old Brazilian driver, began his karting career from the age of 8, having his ups and downs in various championships.
He started in single-seaters in 2020, when he entered the Italian F4 championship with Prema Powerteam. He ended up placing 5th in the championship which was a good start to his now booming career.
But his peak performance began when he finally made it to Formula 3 joining Trident alongside drivers Leonardo Fornaroli and Oliver Goethe. In the 2023 FIA Championship, Bortoleto won only 2 races, one being in Bahrain International Circuit and the other in Albert Park Circuit, yet still placed first in the championship.
It was a close battle with Zak O’Sullivan and Paul Aron of Prema Racing as they fought for the championship. He was consistent throughout the championship, being in the top ten and scoring just what was needed to rise to the top, eventually winning the championship.
This led to him getting his seat with Invicta Racing for the FIA Formula 2 championship alongside Indian driver Kush Maini.
In the ongoing 2024 FIA Formula 2 championship, Bortoleto is proving exactly why he deserves the second Sauber Seat.
In the first half of the championship we saw Zane Maloney, Paul Aron and Isack Hadjar take the lead in the championship one by one. The turning point, in both Bortoleto’s career and the championship, was when he went from P22 to P1 in the feature race at Monza, taking the championship lead from Hadjar.
Bortoleto’s main strategy is to be consistent and win when it is essential. Being in the lead with just two wins in the championship, his fluidity with the car and his maneuvers on the track is exactly what is required in a Formula 1 driver.
The Brazilian knows when he can win and when to accept a podium, knowing that the key is not winning every single race but to ensure that the performance is consistent and that his trajectory must be on a rise and not a downfall. He knows that he can be aggressive while being so subtle that one doesn’t know when he will win the race or even the championship for that matter.
Moreover, Bortoleto has exactly the right guidance under the mentorship of Fernando Alonso and has had great media training and fan engagement throughout his career in Formula 2 and 3, thereby making him a fan favourite.
He has everything an F1 driver should have, if not more. Being aggressive and knowing when a podium is enough to get the lead in the championship is a strategy many drivers don’t really apply in current times as they constantly want to be in the lead, even if it implies the risk of not being on the podium or in the top 10 for a race.
Sauber needs a driver like Bortoleto as he is not only a team player, but a great driver who knows exactly how to play the game on the track and emerge with the best possible result no matter what obstacle comes in his way.
His consistency and building a solid campaign is exactly what he could do at Sauber.
Franco Colapinto — (Lenny Sundahl)
While it was not a surprise for Williams to drop the underperforming and crash-prone Logan Sargeant, the decision to replace him not with a waiting-in-the-wings hotshoe like Liam Lawson or recently shelved driver like Mick Schumacher, but instead reserve driver Franco Colapinto, with only two test sessions under his belt, was met with skepticism.
To be fair, it’s not that Colapinto has been without speed in his junior career, having won once this season in Formula 2 and four times in Formula 3, but his overall results didn’t look like those of someone who would get such a call-up.
Yet the young Argentine has proven the doubters wrong in a very short time, keeping up with established teammate Alex Albon both in pace and consistency—including his first race at Monza, where he charged from the back of the grid to 12th—and scored points in just his second race, 8th place at the always difficult Baku circuit.
These performances have made a solid case for Colapinto to remain on the grid. A young driver who can put the car where it needs to be on the timesheets and keep it from where it shouldn’t be on the track would have a high ceiling—and for the heights that Audi are aiming for, would be a great driver to plot a championship future with.
While 2025 may wind up being a downgrade in terms of car performance, being essentially a transitional year before a brand new car for 2026, Colapinto being partnered with a veteran like Nico Hulkenberg would provide a sturdy foundation to build upon.
Audi have lofty expectations, but if Colapinto is able to rise to the occasion the same way he has with this season’s opportunity, the future will be bright for everyone involved.
