Bottas, Zhou dropped as Sauber sign F2 star Bortoleto for 2025
Sauber have signed Formula 2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto to complete an all-new driver line-up at the team for the 2025 season with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu both losing their seats.
Nico Hulkenberg was already confirmed as joining the Audi-controlled team for 2025 and so the arrival of the highly-rated 20-year-old Brazilian Bortoleto to join the experienced German completes a completely-new line-up for the season before Sauber are rebranded under the name of their new owners in 2026.
Underlining his status as a rising star, Bortoleto has been a member of McLaren’s driver development programme but will now be released from those obligations to take up his opportunity at Sauber.
Bottas and Zhou had been the Swiss team’s line-up since 2022 but their respective end-of-season departures were confirmed shortly before Bortoleto’s expected signing was formally announced.
“Gabriel has already demonstrated in the junior categories that he has what it takes to be a winning driver,” said Sauber chief operating officer Mattia Binotto.
“We are very pleased that he will become a team member of Sauber and Audi. Together with Gabriel, we are on a journey towards success, and we will evolve into a unified force to shape a new era for Audi in motorsport. Nico and Gabriel represent the ideal combination of experience and youth, positioning us strongly for the future.”
In an earlier post on X on Wednesday, Sauber had confirmed: “After open and constructive discussions with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, we mutually concluded that conditions to continue together could not be met so we agreed that it is time to part ways.
“We would like to thank both for the contribution they have made to the team in the last three years.
“They have been the embodiment of professionalism, using their experience and enthusiasm to support our growth.”
While Chinese driver Zhou’s departure had been expected since the Swiss team announced in April they had signed Hulkenberg, the experienced Bottas – who joined from Mercedes in 2022 – had been fighting to stay on alongside.
But in separate Sauber statements announcing their current drivers’ departures after the final three rounds of this season, Bottas said: “A situation like this is never easy for anyone. But after all the good and in-depth discussions we had in the past weeks, we realised that the conditions to grow this project together were not met.
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Bottas recently confirmed he had been speaking to Mercedes – where he won 10 races as team-mate to Lewis Hamilton in 2017-2021 – about taking a reserve role for 2025 should a Sauber contract renewal not materialise. The Finn is thought to have also held talks with Alpine and Williams earlier in the year about their respective then-vacant seats, but the teams plumped for alternative options.
Sauber are the only team yet to score a point in the 2024 campaign and will enter the final season under their current name next year before being rebranded fully as Audi for 2026.
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