Valtteri Bottas fired by the Sauber Audi F1 Team, paving way for F2 star Bortoleto

Audi F1 has now sacked Valtteri Bottas and replaced him with Gabriel Bortoleto. There has been long-term speculation about who will drive for the Sauber team next year, and now the official confirmation has arrived that Bottas has been sacked.

The Sauber Team will be changed to Audi F1 in 2026 and the team will arrive with their engine to compete in the pinnacle of the sport.  Prior to that, they must ensure they have the right drivers for the 2026 season. So next year will be the testing ground for the Audi team.

Next year we will see different drivers in the Sauber team with Nico Hulkenberg already signed they were on the hunt for his teammate. Many popular drivers' names have been speculated like Sebastian Vettel, Mick Schumacher, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, Felipe Drugovich, Theo Pourchaire, and Franco Colapinto.

New driver for the Sauber F1 team

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by McLaren (@mclaren)

Now, F1 star Gabriel Bortoleto has been signed by the Swiss-based team, and Valtteri Bottas has to leave the Sauber team and hope to find some other F1 team. The 10-time Race winner with the Mercedes team recently said that he will be driving for Sauber next year. Now it seems like Finn will have to break the deal he had with the team and look for a new place.

Bortoleto is the current F2 championship leader and has a 4.5-point lead over Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar. There are still 2 rounds left in the F1 championship in Abu Dhabi and Qatar. The young rookie is managed by the Aston Martin team driver and 2-time world champion Fernando Alonso.

He was also the McLaren junior academy driver but he got no chance at the McLaren team as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have long-term contracts with the team. He may be considered as the future driver for the team. Valtteri Bottas has been in Formula 1 since 2013 when he made his debut for the Williams team and he moved to Mercedes and then to Alfa Romeo which changed its name to Sauber again.

Also Read: ‘Keep your mouth shut’- Jos Verstappen unleashes wrath at the British Press after Max Verstappen's Historic Brazilian GP win