Nico Hulkenberg committed to the Sauber/Audi project relatively early last season, making the decision to join a team with the backing of a manufacturer. On paper, leaving a customer team like Haas for a team with the financial resources of Audi is a logical move.
However, Sauber are still in a somewhat awkward transitional phase.
Last season was evidence of this, with the Swiss team only bringing significant updates at the Las Vegas GP – as the 2024 season came to an end.
Despite the last twelve months being relatively underwhelming, Nico Hulkenberg remains optimistic about the project.
Hulkenberg outlines 2025 expectations
For all of Sauber’s struggles last season, there is no shortage of ambition at the Audi project.
Alongside current CTO Mattia Binotto, ex-Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley will join Hinwil-based operation as team principal later this year.
In combination with the financial muscle of a manufacturer like Audi, there is plenty of firepower behind Nico Hulkenberg’s next chapter.
However, investing into the necessary facilities and personnel to climb the field takes time.
This is not only true for 2025, but for 2026 and beyond. In addition to the established big names, the likes of Aston Martin and Williams are in a strong enough position to disrupt the established order in the medium-term.
Mattia Binotto has already spoken about the indecision within the team when he first arrived.
The former Ferrari team principal admitted to major uncertainties about the future. This had a direct impact on 2024, and likely stalled Sauber’s efforts to recover from their poor start.
Thankfully for the Hinwil outfit, there is far more clarity moving forward. Partly because of this, Nico Hulkenberg is cautiously optimistic about the future:
“In some ways it’s a building year,” he said at F1 75.
“Our target is to be competitive and to obviously score as many points as possible. You always have to remember where we came from last year, It’s a difficult kind of starting point.
“The team and us, we’ve been pushing over the winter but right now we can obviously only speculate where we are, where everybody else is.
“For us, the motto is head down, push hard, work hard and maximise everything on and off track. Go for the opportunities when they come.”
2025 in context for Sauber
Inevitably, Sauber will face a decision within the next few months about how to split their resources between 2025 and 2026.
Binotto has been candid about Audi’s 2026 engine progress, explaining that he expects a performance deficit to the likes of Mercedes, Honda and Mercedes.
This would suggest that Audi will start putting emphasis on 2026 sooner rather than later.
After all, while being a manufacturer increases a team’s ceiling – as Alpine have shown – it still requires diligent preparation.
Hulkenberg is conscious of this, and if committed to the long-term project at Hinwil:
“It’s obviously a long road ahead, with the process started now, and behind the scenes many things are already ongoing with respect to next year.
“Which is a big thing and exciting, especially for myself, being German with a German manufacturer and works team.
“A lot of things to look forward to, and look forward to getting the season started soon.”
