Valtteri Bottas will leave the Sauber team at the end of this season after the Swiss outfit have recruited Nico Hulkenberg and Formula 2 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto.
The Finnish driver hasn’t been able to make much of an impact this season, as Sauber are yet to score a point and have struggled operationally.
Bottas has been reliable over his three seasons with the team, comfortably beating his teammate Zhou Guanyu, who is also leaving.
They have struggled to get out of the first part of qualifying for much of the season, with both drivers unable to compete in the midfield.
Bottas may be moving to Mercedes as a reserve driver for next season but his future isn’t confirmed yet with two races to go at Sauber.
He was incredibly negative when speaking about the Sauber team’s management in an interview with motorsportmagazine, which stunned former Formula 1 driver Giedo van der Garde.
Giedo van der Garde was stunned by Valtteri Bottas’ comments about Sauber
Sauber have regressed significantly over the ground effect era since being very competitive in 2022 when they were one of the few cars at the weight limit.
They were led by Frederic Vasseur, now Ferrari’s team boss and pushing for the Constructors’ Championship.
Vasseur has proven to be a top team manager and the standards have since dropped since the Frenchman left the team.
Sauber will be under increasing pressure to deliver as they are being taken over by German manufacturer Audi for the 2026 season.
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Van der Garde explained that Bottas’ comments took him aback and that he was incredibly negative about the Swiss team.
He told the DRS: De Race Show YouTube channel: “I saw an interview from Bottas, who really brought the team down completely, so he said I really wanted to go to the team, and when Fred was far away, I was able to take some good steps.
“Fred left, and everything fell apart. He said I never know if I would have made that choice when I look back now, whether that choice is still true. He was very negative towards the team.”
Sauber have been floundering this season at the back of the field
Sauber struggled in the pit lane in the opening few rounds of the world championship, with some pit stops taking as long as 30 seconds rather than a more competitive two and a half second stop.
This caused them to miss out on any slim hopes of scoring a point, particularly with Bottas, who finished 14th in Australia and Japan.
The lack of development over the season may also worry Audi, who will want to hit the ground running in 2026 with the works team.
Sauber still have two races to score a point in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, although it may be unlikely as there is very little chance of variable weather.
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