Steven Petrik, a former Ferrari engineer, has replaced Alex Chan as Valtteri Bottas’ engineer. Bottas said he didn’t make the decision, suggesting it’s part of Audi’s plan to change things at Sauber before they fully join in 2026.
Sauber’s spokesperson, Alunni Bravi, said this was mostly true. The CEO, Andreas Seidl, is making changes to shape the team before Audi’s full entry in 2026.
“Andreas Seidl decided to make some decisions early and start making changes that will lead to the final structure we’ll have in ’26,” Alunni Bravi explained. “This isn’t the final race team structure. In Hinwil, we’re not yet the Audi F1 team, and the organizational chart isn’t final. We wanted to start early, and Andreas Seidl decided to do it now. We need more experience and people who know how top teams work to help us improve our processes and analysis.”
Petrik started working with Bottas at the Pirelli test after the Japanese Grand Prix. Bottas was informed of the decision after the China race.
Alunni Bravi said that although Petrik joined the same week Sauber announced Nico Hulkenberg would join in 2025, the two moves aren’t related.
“We now need to integrate the new engineer and build a good working and personal relationship between Valtteri and his race engineer,” Alunni Bravi said. “We talked with Valtteri after China. There was a meeting right after the race. Steven Petrik was already Bottas’ race engineer in Suzuka during the Pirelli test days. We decided to make this change early.
Time will tell if it was the right decision. But there’s no connection between changing the race engineer and announcing Nico [Hulkenberg]. It’s just one of the first steps to have a new organization in the race team as soon as possible.”
