{"id":25163,"date":"2024-10-12T14:20:13","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T18:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=25163"},"modified":"2024-10-12T14:22:10","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T18:22:10","slug":"mick-schumacher-still-in-contention-for-2025-sauber-seat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/10\/12\/mick-schumacher-still-in-contention-for-2025-sauber-seat\/","title":{"rendered":"Mick Schumacher still in contention for 2025 Sauber seat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sauber are the only team without a confirmed driver line-up for next season. Since announcing Nico Hulkenberg&#8217;s contract in April, the Hinwil-based squad have assessed many drivers that could drive alongside him 2025. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/10\/04\/mattia-binotto-audi-likely-to-suffer-engine-deficit-in-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">Mattia Binotto<\/a> (Chief Technical Officer) discussions have taken place with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/13\/mick-schumacher-emerges-as-contender-for-audi-seat\/\" target=\"_self\">Mick Schumacher<\/a> about a potential deal.<\/p>\n<h2>Binotto reveals previous talks with Mick Schumacher over 2025 Sauber seat<\/h2>\n<p>At this stage last year, Sauber had already confirmed that Zhou Guanyu would drive with Valtteri Bottas for another year. However, even then, there where whispers about the team considering a different long-term driver line-up.<\/p>\n<p>These suspicions were confirmed with the announcement of Hulkenberg joining the team. In recent months, several names have joined the team&#8217;s shortlist for a 2025 contract.<\/p>\n<p>As Audi oversee a transitional phase at Sauber, this decision is critical.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/09\/10\/bortoleto-receives-green-light-from-mclaren-to-join-sauber\/\" target=\"_self\">Gabriel Bortoleto<\/a>, current Championship leader in Formula 2, is among the contenders to join Binotto&#8217;s squad. With Audi set to officially enter the grid in 2026, the youth and potential offered by Bortoleto make him an interesting prospect.<\/p>\n<p>The same can be said about <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/10\/02\/franco-colapinto-continues-in-contract-talks-with-sauber\/\" target=\"_self\">Franco Colapinto<\/a>, whose outstanding performances for Williams have catapulted him into the race. Alongside these youngsters, veteran <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/31\/valtteri-bottas-refuses-to-budge-from-key-sauber-contract-demand\/\" target=\"_self\">Valtteri Bottas<\/a> is also fighting to retain his seat.<\/p>\n<p>Until now, these names were seen as favourites to join Sauber.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"4NXHZwmWSvJ9fgT27Dkouw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2173068305\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'4NXHZwmWSvJ9fgT27Dkouw',sig:'N6Oo6Uav69wi3TElpz5PF2IMWkO0_zz4mxJY3upn9DI=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2173068305',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Sauber still hesitant to make final decision<\/h4>\n<p>Then again, nothing is certain about Audi&#8217;s long-term vision. In a recent interview, Mattia Binotto told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.corriere.it\/sport\/formula-1\/24_ottobre_12\/mattia-binotto-ferrari-audi-intervista-12d2ef0a-ef2b-4e98-bd09-3bc655407xlk.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Corriere<\/a> that Mick Schumacher is also being looked at:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;[Is Mick Schumacher] an option? Definitely, we are evaluating it. I met him and spoke with him.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;I have known him for a long time, having been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy &#8211; I know his strengths and weaknesses. He is one of the names we have in mind.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>At this stage, discerning Sauber&#8217;s next step is complicated. Binotto admitted earlier in the interview that the team are still assessing if youth or experience is their priority.<\/p>\n<p>There is also the possibility that, regardless of who they sign, only a one-year deal will be offered &#8211; giving Audi the flexibility to make changes before 2026 as they see fit.<\/p>\n<p>Schumacher certainly is not a front-runner to join the Hinwil-based operation. Still, his name is one of many under the microscope as Mattia Binotto <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/08\/19\/mattia-binotto-given-full-responsibility-for-audi-project\/\" target=\"_self\">ponders the best direction for the future<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sauber are the only team without a confirmed driver line-up for next season. Since announcing Nico Hulkenberg&#8217;s contract in April, the Hinwil-based squad have assessed many drivers that could drive alongside him 2025. According to Mattia Binotto (Chief Technical Officer) discussions have taken place with Mick Schumacher about a potential deal. Binotto reveals previous talks [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":25164,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,3],"tags":[2220,206,68,465,443,345],"class_list":["post-25163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-2024-formula-1-season","tag-audi","tag-f1","tag-f1-news","tag-mick-schumacher","tag-sauber"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}