Sauber has renamed its Formula 1 team “Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber” as part of new naming rights deals following the end of its Alfa Romeo partnership. The change has been confirmed in the 2024 entry list that has been released by the FIA, with Sauber …
Sauber has renamed its Formula 1 team “Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber” as part of new naming rights deals following the end of its Alfa Romeo partnership.
The change has been confirmed in the 2024 entry list that has been released by the FIA, with Sauber announcing that streaming company Kick, an existing major partner for the team, has secured naming rights to the chassis for the next two seasons.
From 2026 the team will be known as Audi, but until then two companies under the same Easygo umbrella — title partner Stake was already involved since last year — will be part of the team’s official name.
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“Sauber has always been about innovation, breaking the mould and defying convention,” team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi said. “The partnership with Kick.com is the latest and boldest display of the philosophy that drives us.
“Kick.com is redefining the way live streaming is done and they will adopt the same disruptive approach in the world of Formula 1. With Kick.com, our goal is to make the next step in finding new and innovative ways to get closer to our fans.”
The entry list also reveals that AlphaTauri has retained the same team name at this stage, with the official entry called “Scuderia AlphaTauri RB.” The “RB” moniker allows flexibility with the final name for the team that is used, as a nod to Red Bull but a rumored change to “Racing Bulls” emerging over the final races of last season.
Alfa Romeo-Sauber driver Zhou Guanyu has his seat locked up for 2024.
The team announced on Thursday that Zhou would be re-joining the team on what appears to be a one-year deal on Thursday. Zhou has been in contract talks for some time, and now, the deal finally gets done.
Zhou has 10 career points in 36 race starts for the team. His two best finishes in 2023 are both ninth place, once at the Australian Grand Prix in April and then at the Spanish Grand Prix in June. He’ll remain with teammate Valtteri Bottas, who has scored 55 points in the same car the last two years.
With Zhou’s extension, there looks to be almost no driver switches or turnover during the upcoming offseason (unless someone’s contract is bought out). The only team to really look at now is Scuderia AlphaTauri, who could do a number of different things with its driver lineup next year between Yuki Tsunoda, Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson vying for a seat.
Alfa Romeo has confirmed Zhou Guanyu will remain with the Formula 1 team in 2024 as it opts for an unchanged driver lineup with the Chinese driver alongside Valtteri Bottas. Zhou was out of contract at the end of this season but has shown good …
Alfa Romeo has confirmed Zhou Guanyu will remain with the Formula 1 team in 2024 as it opts for an unchanged driver lineup with the Chinese driver alongside Valtteri Bottas.
Zhou was out of contract at the end of this season but has shown good progress in his second year in F1, picking up two top-10 finishes in a difficult car that has yielded a total of only 10 points so far. In pairing Zhou with Bottas once again, Alfa Romeo team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi says the team is prioritizing stability while keeping Theo Pourchaire in a reserve role.
“The decision to continue our journey with our driver lineup unchanged is testament to the investment we have made in our project,” Alunni Bravi said. “Nothing in Formula 1 changes overnight, and we have taken a conscious decision to focus on stability and to keep building our team up together as we embark on an important period of transition.
“Valtteri and Zhou are drivers of known talent and skill and they work really well together: they are well-matched and can push each other. Valtteri has taken a real leader’s role within the team, pushing us all to give our best; Zhou has made impressive steps forward in the last two years and we expect him to continue on this trajectory in 2024. Now the baton is back to us — we have to give both drivers a good car and put them in the best conditions to perform.
“Finally, I am happy that Theo will remain with the team for 2024 as one of our reserve drivers. He has done an incredible job this year, not just in F2, where we will all support him as he fights for the title in Abu Dhabi, but also behind the scenes, working with the team in Hinwil.”
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Zhou points to the partnership he has with Bottas as a strength of the lineup that will benefit Alfa Romeo moving forward, as the pair enter a third season together.
“Signing again with the team is always a great feeling, especially when we know how things are shaping up,” Zhou said. “I am proud to be part of Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake and grateful for their trust: I have been working extremely hard since day one and there is an incredible level of motivation to keep doing so every day forward.
“My relationship with Valtteri is really good, and we are working closely together and with the team to push everyone forward. I am also very excited about the opportunity to finally race with my team in China, in front of my home crowd. It will be a great moment and I’m proud to be able to share it with all those who have supported me.”
Bottas, who had signed a multi-year agreement when he joined Alfa Romeo at the start of the 2022 season, also expressed satisfaction about keeping the current team together.
“I have a feeling we have an exciting journey ahead of us, so I am happy and grateful to be able to look forward to 2024 knowing how the team is shaping up,” Bottas said. “There is a good atmosphere within our squad — I get along with Zhou and we both push each other hard to improve.
“There is an impressive amount of work going on behind the scenes, in Hinwil and beyond, and now that the lineup is set for next year, we can focus fully on improving, starting this weekend in Singapore already. Every step forward we make is a step forward for this year and next, so we are motivated to give everything we have every time we’re trackside or at the factory.”
Alfa Romeo will bring an “important package” of upgrades to the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend as it looks to follow-up on its point-scoring result in Monza. Valtteri Bottas finished tenth in Italy to give the team its first score since he picked …
Alfa Romeo will bring an “important package” of upgrades to the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend as it looks to follow-up on its point-scoring result in Monza.
Valtteri Bottas finished tenth in Italy to give the team its first score since he picked up the same result in Canada, closing the gap to Haas in the constructors’ championship to a solitary point. The return was well-timed ahead of a race weekend in Singapore where Alfa Romeo had targeted a major upgrade that team principal Alessandro Alunni Bravi says could put the team in the mix for regular top tens.
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“We head to Singapore with great motivation: returning to the top ten in Monza gave us a great confidence boost, having executed a flawless race that turned the tide from a challenging start to the weekend,” Alunni Bravi said. “This is how we should approach every race: if we are at the top of our performance, we’ll be able to maximize every opportunity.
“We are bringing a new, important package to Singapore, which asked a lot of effort from our home team over the past months: hopefully it’ll help us in the chase for more points finishes. It’ll be crucial, on a track like Singapore with its peculiar layout and climate conditions, to get the feeling right from the start, and improve our performances throughout the sessions.”
Bottas himself admits the result in Monza was an important boost for the team as it worked to improve the car ahead of the start of the flyaway races.
“It was good to get back into the points in Monza: we all needed that, after a few difficult races, and being at our home grand prix with the support of our colleagues on the grandstands made it even more special,” Bottas said. “A point, however, is not enough, and I am hungry for more: we still have eight races to go before the end of the season, and we will push until the very end to achieve our targets.
“Singapore is a unique track, and both the weather conditions and it being a street track make it even more challenging. We are set to bring a new package this weekend, which should help us make an extra step forward, and I am looking forward to testing it on track. The team back at the factory is working really hard to improve our car and we just need to keep pushing for any opportunity to score.”
Alfa Romeo is giving its academy driver another run in F1 machinery.
Alfa Romeo is set to give its academy driver another go in a Formula 1 car later this year.
Italian publication formu1a.uno reported on Monday that Sauber academy driver Theo Pourchaire is set to drive Alfa Romeo’s 2023 challenger during a free practice session later this year. Although the team did not confirm when he’s set to take part in the practice session, the French driver told reporters that it’ll be after the Italian Grand Prix in Monza during Formula 2’s long break.
Pourchaire is currently leading F2, 12 points ahead of Mercedes academy driver Frederik Vesti. Wether or not he’ll get an F1 seat with Alfa Romeo — soon to return to the Sauber name — remains unknown, as the team still has Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas and Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu in the lineup, both who have been performing well.
Pourchaire has driven an F1 car once so far. He participated in Free Practice 1 at the United States Grand Prix in 2022, placing 18th in the standings around the Circuit of the Americas with a time of 1m 40.175s.
While Zhou Guanyu hopes to extend his stay at Sauber beyond this season, he says long-term stability is unlikely with multiple driver contracts expiring at the end of 2024. Currently racing as Alfa Romeo, the team will rebrand at the end of this …
While Zhou Guanyu hopes to extend his stay at Sauber beyond this season, he says long-term stability is unlikely with multiple driver contracts expiring at the end of 2024.
Currently racing as Alfa Romeo, the team will rebrand at the end of this season ahead of its transition into Audi’s F1 works team in 2026, and Zhou’s contract is set to expire after this year. The Chinese driver has delivered improved consistency and sits just one point behind teammate Valtteri Bottas in an uncompetitive 2023 car, and while he wants to sign a new deal he’s aware of how chaotic the driver market is likely to look in 12 months’ time.
“We are very open to all aspects for next year, and I myself will prefer staying here (Sauber),” Zhou told Titan Media. “Although it will not be Alfa next year, the team will become a factory team from 2026. So it is very important to me to be here to deliver better performance and fit better within the team. There may be many options during this period because I feel that there could be many shifts in the drivers market next year.”
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On top of deals that expire this year, nine drivers are believed to be out of contract after 2024, including Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly. Despite the uncertainty, Zhou says he is less anxious about his future than he was a year ago, when as a rookie he needed to trigger an option on his contract to remain with Alfa Romeo.
“Last year I might have been more concerned about the seat,” he said. “Although there is nothing confirmed so far this year and I’ve signed nothing related to the future, step by step, everything is proceeding as planned.
“What I need to know more is how to find what I think is the best for myself and the best for my future development. In this regard, I am not as worried as last year, and I will not let myself be concerned too much.
“Of course, I hope to continue what I am doing now — I want to do my best in all aspects and maximize what I have got in all areas (with racing), and leave other things to my management team.”
As part of the Formula 1 managerial merry-go-round that kicked into high gear over the past winter, there were major changes at Alfa Romeo Sauber. Popular team principal Fred Vasseur departed for Ferrari – hardly a slight on the team he was leaving …
As part of the Formula 1 managerial merry-go-round that kicked into high gear over the past winter, there were major changes at Alfa Romeo Sauber.
Popular team principal Fred Vasseur departed for Ferrari – hardly a slight on the team he was leaving – and in his place came Andreas Seidl. Sort of.
Seidl took on the position of chief executive officer of Sauber Motorsport, assuming one of the roles Vasseur had held, but leaving the position of team principal free. And that wasn’t directly filled, as Alessandro Alunni Bravi became team representative.
To suggest it’s simply a communications or optics-based role would be grossly unfair, but given the fact Alfa Romeo hasn’t set the world alight so far this season, there has been little call for Alunni Bravi to spend much time in the limelight.
In fact, he’s rarely enjoyed such a position, despite a career history that involves running teams at the level just below Formula 1 over the past 20 years.
“The sport is my life, not just a passion,” Alunni Bravi tells RACER. “I’ve been really lucky to be born in a small village in Umbria in the center of Italy – Passignano sul Trasimeno – that was the headquarters of Coloni that was in Formula 3, Formula 3000 and Formula 1. And close to a circuit between Perugia and Magione (Autodromo dell’Umbria).
“So when I was a child, and a teenager, I’ve been spending all my life around this. It’s always been motorsport at the center of my dreams, of my life. What I try (to do) is to combine my passion with my work as a lawyer, and I had the chance to start quite early at the end of the 1990s as a lawyer for a team, for drivers, working for driver management company.
“I could combine this with consultancy activity as a legal counsel to management activities for teams or for promoters. Plus, I have been working for the World Rally Championship as a general manager of the Italian round in Sardinia, and also with the sporting department of Fiat Auto Group.
“Then I had my own GP2 team with partners, working with Nicholas Todt. So, a lot of different activities until the day that I joined Sauber together with Fred Vasseur in 2017. Now of course, I’m focused on the F1 team and our Sauber Group. So it has been another evolution. This doesn’t mean that I’m fit for this role, it means that I’m old! But I can of course use my experience for my current job.”
Much like a lot of grand prix drivers, Alunni Bravi spent time in GP2 (now F2) on his way to F1, serving as team principal at Trident. Alistair Staley/Motorsport Images
Alunni Bravi is certainly doing himself a disservice, with the huge amount of motorsport experience being packed into a relatively short space of time and leaving him heading up Alfa Romeo at the age of 48. And although Seidl’s hiring comes with the air of him being the de facto team principal, his Italian counterpart says that’s not how Sauber is now organized.
“I know that people always say that now to be a team principal, or in my position, you need to have an engineering background,” he says. “I think that this is depending on the structure of each team. There are team principals that are previous engineers, because the team required this kind of profile in that particular structure.
“Other than that, there are those with more of a management profile like Toto Wolff or Christian Horner. So it’s really dependent on how you structure the group and the team activities.”
As a proud Italian, Alunni Bravi says he will not be sad when the Alfa Romeo collaboration ends after the current season ahead of the transition to become the Audi works team, because it has been a successful partnership from both sides. But it is very much a time of change at Hinwil, and one that the team representative has a key hand in.
“First of all, we work together hand in hand on a daily basis,” he says. “So someone can think that there is Andreas working on the future and me taking care of the present and this interim period of the team, but it is not like this. We work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to improve the team to deliver results now for our partners in the next years, but also to put the right foundation for what will be a bigger challenge to be a works team as of 2026.
“But we build our future here and now. So it’s a process that we do all together with our management, with our people. It’s not one single individual, but it’s a work that we perform together. And of course, we have the appointment of James Key. This I think is a statement for Sauber Motorsport for what we want for the future.
“We want to increase the quality in our group. We want to develop each single area. And I think that James will be instrumental in shaping – together with us and Andreas – the technical department, which is one of the core departments of an F1 team.”
That shaping is something that Alunni Bravi says is an exciting prospect because the imminent arrival of Audi is “a challenge that should be really attractive to everybody”. But that’s offset by a team that has slipped to ninth in the constructors’ championship behind Williams and Haas this season, having pipped Aston Martin to sixth last year.
It’s a tough spell that isn’t being ignored, but much like James Vowles’ mantra at Williams, the majority of decisions being taken at this point in time are with the future in mind, and without the pressure of a hard deadline for success.
Alunni Bravi says that Sauber’s effort is currently divided between delivering on the present-day program with Alfa Romeo, and preparing for the new chapter as the factory Audi team. Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images
“We prepare the future now,” Alunni Bravi says. “So we need to deliver strong results for us, for our partners, in the next two years, and this is why we are addressing all our weaknesses, and we are working hard to improve each area. James Key is one example of our vision for this, but we are appointing people in every department – it’s just we are not disclosing it.
“This is a process. How much time will it take? We have seen in the past with the likes of Red Bull or Mercedes, it is not easy to arrive and to win. You need time. You need time to find the right people, you need the time to develop your infrastructure.
“You will need time, because in Formula 1 there is a big inertia, and when you take a decision, sometimes you need to wait because the people are subject to gardening leave… (but) you need to create your organization and to make it work. So what is important is that we are taken the right decisions for the future.
“I don’t think is correct to speak about the date or time. We are in 2023. We finished P6 last year in the constructors’ championship, which has been the best result for Sauber in the last 10 years. But the road is long. Of course, we need to work on a daily basis to be ready to be more competitive in 2026. But this will be the start of the project.
“Don’t forget that this will be the first year with Audi in Formula 1, as a works team, as a full manufacturer. So we cannot set the target, but this will be the first year we need to have the structure ready to face the challenges. And then we will see.
“If we have done a good job then we’ll be competitive, if not we’ll just know that we need to improve and we have hard work ahead of us. So it is not really correct now to set that target of when we need to score podiums or fight for wins.”
But will it be Alunni Bravi who gets much of the credit if the Audi transition is a success for Sauber? Or criticism if not? He doesn’t mind either way, but he wants to make clear that his role means he does shoulder the responsibility.
“The reward is not to be more popular or to have my face recognized around the paddock, I think that the reward is the respect of your people,” he says. “I don’t feel a big difference between working behind the scenes or now, I just hope that I represent the team in the correct way.
“Maybe for my friends, now they have the opportunity to see me more on TV, and not only three four times a year when I get the chance to go back home to stay with my friends! But for me the reward is to do a proper job on a daily basis for the team.
“And then I hope that also people understand through myself how much commitment and effort we are putting into this project. How much as a team we are working hard to develop ourselves. You can do the right choice, we can do bad choices, but I’m a person that never was afraid to take a decision. For me, it’s important that we take decisions.
“In Formula 1, you need to take responsibility for what you do. This is the most important part of my job.”
A top ten result in the Spanish Grand Prix came as “a massive relief” for Alfa Romeo, admits Zhou Guanyu. Alfa Romeo had scored on just two occasions so far in 2023 prior to the race in Barcelona, but Zhou delivered an impressive drive to finish …
A top ten result in the Spanish Grand Prix came as “a massive relief” for Alfa Romeo, admits Zhou Guanyu.
Alfa Romeo had scored on just two occasions so far in 2023 prior to the race in Barcelona, but Zhou delivered an impressive drive to finish ninth and move the team level with Haas in the constructors’ championship. After fighting with Yuki Tsunoda before securing two points, Zhou says it’s a boost for the whole team.
“That feels like a massive relief for us, and for the team here and back in Hinwil,” Zhou said. “It was a tricky start to the season for the team. We finally got some points that we deserved, and the car was mega. I was feeling comfortable out there, taking the right chance when I had the opportunities. We executed the race.
“ I would say (it’s one of my best drives). It’s one of the one or two on the table.”
Zhou crossed the line in tenth place but was promoted due to a five-second time penalty that Tsunoda was given for forcing the Chinese driver off track, something Zhou says was an obvious penalty in his view.
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“It was very straightforward. I was ahead before braking into Turn 1. Mid-corner, I was actually giving a lot of space and then I saw he wasn’t stopping, tried to release the brake, ran me off, which I had to take avoiding action on the escape road, otherwise we would be crashing together.
“That was tricky after that, because I had so much rubbish on my tires. In the end, I was able to keep behind in the right position and get the position back.”
The result came with Zhou’s teammate Valtteri Bottas struggling massively in Spain, with the Finn believing he had an issue with his car in much the same way Charles Leclerc felt for Ferrari on Saturday.
“For me it’s pretty clearly there was something not right with the car, because I was more than one second per lap off, just sliding around,” Bottas said. “Whether it was a mechanical or aero issue I cannot say, because the balance was not, like, way off, but it was just lack of overall grip. So, we’ll see if there’s something damaged in the car…
“Either something mechanical has been installed wrongly, before qualifying, something that affects the ride height or something, or there’s something aero wise. I would have thought so.
“I’m really pleased that we got two points – I just had a chat with Zhou and he was saying the pace was quite good. It’s good, but not for me! It’s good to see that the upgrades are doing the job.”
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says his recent meeting with Alfa Romeo’s CEO was only an introductory talk and there has been no discussion of any potential partnership at this stage. It was reported in Monaco that a meeting took place to …
Haas team principal Guenther Steiner says his recent meeting with Alfa Romeo’s CEO was only an introductory talk and there has been no discussion of any potential partnership at this stage.
It was reported in Monaco that a meeting took place to agree a title sponsorship deal for when Alfa Romeo leaves Sauber at the end of this year, despite Haas already having a deal in place with MoneyGram. Steiner says he did meet with Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato but only to be introduced and he doesn’t know if there is any interest in partnering with his team in future.
“A lot of people are saying that (it’ll be a title partner) to me, but the only ones who haven’t told me that yet are Alfa Romeo!” Steiner said. “They are looking at what they are doing in the future, they came to see us to see how we are doing and it was an introduction, nothing else. I never met the CEO before in my life and we just got introduced, I think on the Sunday — I don’t even remember the day — in Monte Carlo. There was nothing to hide, we just said hello and that was it. I don’t know what they are doing in the future.
“MoneyGram is our title sponsor for now and for the foreseeable future. We’ve got a contract and they are very good to work with. We have got a very good relationship with them — they do a lot of activations as you guys saw, they are doing a very good job.”
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While Steiner admits he can’t rule out the possibility of a future deal, he says it all rests on what Alfa Romeo would want to propose.
“There is a possibility of a lot of things. I cannot rule it out but I cannot say this is happening because it is not my decision,” he said. “I don’t know what they want to do.
“I think they are looking what they want to do — that’s my feeling. I don’t know because I would never ask them.
“I don’t know (if the Haas name could be dropped like at Sauber) because we never spoke about this. So I don’t know, I don’t have an answer for that, because we haven’t discussed it with Gene (Haas team owner). Because there’s nothing on the table, therefore I don’t even think about it.”
La famosa “caguama” bien fría calma el calor de cualquiera y eso lo pudo constatar Valtteri Bottas quien se ganó el corazón de México
El calor en la pista del Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez el pasado domingo durante la carrera de la Fórmula 1 alcanzó temperaturas muy elevadas por lo que los pilotos sufrieron deshidratación, pero nadie como Valtteri Bottas para quitarse la sed en México.
Foto ESPECIAL
El piloto de Alfa Romeo publicó una historia en su Instagram donde festejó haber quedado dentro de los puntos en el GP de México acompañado de una “caguama”, una botella de más de un litro de cerveza mexicana que el finlandés no dejó escapar la oportunidad de probar y fue captado por su novia la ciclista Tiffany Cromwell.
La famosa “caguama” bien fría calma el calor de cualquiera y eso lo pudo constatar Valtteri Bottas quien de inmediato se ganó el corazón de la afición mexicana que ya lo adoptó como un hermano más.
Los comentarios en redes sociales son muy chistosos pues es una bebida de lo más popular en México y ver al piloto de Alfa Romeo con el producto en sus manos fue mágico para muchos mexicanos que disfrutan de “echarse sus caguamas” los fines de semana.
