Formula One: picking second driver looks like the easy part for new Sauber boss Binotto
Sauber are last in the constructors’ championship, while drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu have not scored a point for more than a year
Sauber hope to have next season’s driver line-up sorted by mid-November but that looks like one of the easier challenges facing new boss Mattia Binotto at what will become the Audi works Formula One team from 2026.
The Swiss-based outfit are last in the constructors’ championship heading into this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, while drivers Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas have not scored a point for more than a year, a novel situation for the former Ferrari principal who arrived at the start of August.
Audi are investing heavily in the project and Binotto has a mission to turn things around.
The task is huge, with some insiders reporting upheaval within the team amid personnel changes and a loss of morale predating Binotto’s arrival, but the Swiss-born Italian is confident he can deliver.
He will be drawing heavily on his experience at Ferrari, and in particular the influence and inspiration of those he worked with during a golden era for the sport’s oldest and most successful team.
“When I started in Ferrari it was 1995,” Binotto said. “At the time, compared to expectations, we were far behind. It was many years that Ferrari was not winning. The foundations were not there, the culture was not there, the mindset was not any more there.
