A new driver has emerged among the candidates for the last starting wheel at Sauber/Audi for the 2025 F1 season.
Mattia Binotto, boss of Sauber/Audi F1, has confirmed that young German driver Mick Schumacher is still being considered to join the team from 2025, or even 2026.
Despite his ouster from the Haas team at the end of 2022, Schumacher is not giving up his ambition to find a seat in Formula 1. Audi represents his main objective, and discussions are underway to assess his potential return.
Schumacher, a former member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, has repeatedly expressed his desire to return to the highest level of motorsport. He named Audi F1 as his “plan A”, and Binotto, who knows the driver well having worked with him at Ferrari, confirmed he was among the serious candidates for the job.
An ongoing evaluation by Binotto
Asked about Mick Schumacher’s chances of returning to F1, Mattia Binotto said: “We are evaluating him. He is definitely on the list of drivers we are considering.”
The Audi F1 boss also mentioned his past experience with the young Schumacher, whom he supervised at the Ferrari Driver Academy: “I know him well, I am aware of his strengths and his qualities. He is one of the names we are considering.”
Audi is not limited to just one candidate, however. Other drivers, such as Valtteri Bottas and Franco Colapinto, Williams’ rising young star, are also in the running to support Nico Hülkenberg, the team’s regular driver.
A long-term project for Audi F1
Binotto stressed that the team is in no rush to make a decision regarding its line-up: “We have the luxury of taking our time, because the other teams have already finalized their drivers. We must choose between experience, which could accelerate our progress, and a promising young talent to accompany our rise.”
Indeed, the Italian is aware that the Audi project in F1 will take several years before showing significant results: “We are still at the foot of the mountain. We must choose our path, but the climb will be long and demanding.”
According to Binotto, the team needs to strengthen its personnel, particularly on the engineering side, before it can hope to compete with the best teams in the field.
Audi looking for podiums for 2026?
Audi’s ambitions for 2026, namely aiming for podiums in the team’s first full season, however, seem unrealistic according to Binotto. He recalls that even big teams like Ferrari or Mercedes took several years to dominate F1.
“It will probably take five to seven years before we can actually fight at the front. We hope to be able to fight at the front by 2030.”
Thus, Mick Schumacher could well be one of the key players in this ambitious project. Only time will tell if the German will find a seat in Formula 1 and contribute to the rise of the Audi team.
