Helmut Marko, Red Bull advisor, spoke about the second Sauber seat still officially free for the 2025 season.
While almost all the teams have confirmed their driver duo for next season, the team based in Hinwil in Switzerland, which will become Audi in 2026, has still not decided who to line up alongside the experienced Nico Hülkenberg .
In recent weeks, it is Valtteri Bottas, present within the structure since 2022, who seemed the favorite to keep his place.
A situation which arouses the incomprehension of Helmut Marko, who for his part believes that a Mick Schumacher would have his place alongside Hülkenberg in 2025.
The 2020 Formula 2 champion has, in fact, been desperately seeking a starting seat since the end of the 2022 season when he was not retained by Haas.
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No risk for Audi to put Schumacher according to Marko
“I think Audi’s car will definitely not be a winning car next year”, Marko told sport.de. “This means that there would have been no pressure neither for Audi nor for the driver”continues the Austrian, who here refers to Mick Schumacher.
“There would have been a good comparison with Nico Hülkenberg”, analyse Helmut Marko. “If the performance is not up to par, it will still be possible to replace it in 2026.”
“I think if Schumacher doesn’t get this seat, his Formula 1 story is over.”
“In this case, let him concentrate on endurance races, where he has had great success”
“If he stays in motorsport, he needs to find something he enjoys, but where he also has a chance of winning.”
While Marko wants to see Schumacher back, it is Valtteri Bottas who is expected to support Hülkenberg, a situation that is surprising to say the least according to the Austrian.
“I don’t know exactly, but if the situation is really such that Valtteri Bottas will get his chance, then all of this is even more incomprehensible to me,” he said.
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