On Friday morning, Haas announced that Nico Hulkenberg will leave their team at the end of the 2024 season. The 36-year-old German was not under contract with Haas, and it was widely known that he was being considered by Andreas Seidl, the CEO of Audi F1.
Hulkenberg will now join Sauber for the 2025 season, a year before Audi’s official entry into Formula 1 in 2026. He had previously raced for Sauber in 2013 and expressed his excitement about returning to the team. “I’m returning to the team I worked with back in 2013 and have fond memories of the strong team spirit in Switzerland,” said Hulkenberg. He also mentioned his enthusiasm about representing Audi, a German manufacturer, in Formula 1.
Hulkenberg and Seidl have worked together before at Porsche’s WEC team, where they won the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours together. Seidl expressed his pleasure in welcoming Hulkenberg back to Sauber and highlighted Hulkenberg’s speed, experience, and teamwork as valuable assets for both Sauber and Audi’s F1 project.
Audi had also approached out-of-contract Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz to join Hulkenberg at the squad next year, but Sainz is still considering his options. This potential move could mean that Sauber’s current drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, will leave the team at the end of the year.
It’s speculated that Ferrari reserve driver Oliver Bearman could replace Hulkenberg at Haas, possibly on loan from Ferrari. Sauber has struggled to score points in 2024 due to pitstop issues, while Audi is working behind the scenes to prepare for the significant regulation changes in 2026.
Hulkenberg’s move to Sauber signifies an exciting development in Formula 1, as the sport braces itself for the entry of Audi in the near future.
