Valtteri Bottas believes Sauber chassis development is the “biggest worry” for the Audi Formula 1 project ahead of the 2026 campaign.
Audi will assume its takeover of Sauber with the Qatar Investment Authority at the end of the 2025 season, bringing the German marque to F1 in 2026 for the very first time.
Part of that project includes developing an Audi power unit ready for its F1 debut and improving output at Sauber’s Hinwil base in Switzerland.
Bottas, who scored zero points for the first time in his career in 2024 as Sauber struggled for competitiveness, revealed ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that improvements have to be made on the chassis side of things if Audi is to be a success.
“It’s going to be a big challenge, of course, and they know it,” Bottas told select media including Motorsport Week.
“[Audi] know it. I think they’ve been focusing on the power unit side for a long time, invested a lot, so they can do a good job, for sure.
“But all the other teams and engine manufacturers, they’ve been in the sport for a long, long time.
“But [Audi has] the resources, the potential.
“My biggest worry is the chassis, it’s not made by Audi, it’s still made by Sauber. So, the chassis side definitely needs it’s an improvement.”
Audi F1 project was ‘a mess’ at the beginning, says Bottas
Audi’s arrival on the scene at Sauber at the end of 2022 brought about change with Andreas Seidl brought in as CEO at the behest of Audi’s CEO Markus Duesmann and CDO Oliver Hoffmann.
Fred Vasseur departed to Ferrari in 2023 and Technical Director Jan Monchaux left for the FIA a year later.
During this time there was change at Audi, with Deusmann departing and Gernot Döllner replacing him in September 2023.
This summer, Seidl and Hoffmann were shown the exit door and replaced by Mattia Binotto.
Bottas has said all of the change at Sauber had been “a mess,” but things have started to settle down.
“Well, lots of people have changed,” the Finn said. “Lots of people have got sacked, lots of people have joined in different roles, so there’s been lots of rotation, and to find that stability, how the team has been structured, it has taken time.
“Now it’s finally starting to shape up, but initially it was quite a mess, with people leaving and people joining.”
Valtteri Bottas hopes Swiss cost of living doesn’t hamper Audi recruitment
Sauber’s Hinwil base has long plagued it when it comes to staff recruitment thanks to Switzerland’s higher cost of living.
To mitigate this, F1 and the FIA has granted Audi a cost-cap relief to balance things out and Bottas hopes that Hinwil is hampered further as it grows into the Audi works outfit.
“I hope they find a solution,” he said.
“And I think the latest modifications to the budget cap rules for different country, that’s going to help Sauber a bit.
“But, yeah, if they, if they get some positive momentum, then people are more keen to join. But at the moment, it’s been a challenging start for the brand.”
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