Sauber selects a reserve driver

      Not all teams have decided on reserve drivers who could replace one of the drivers in the main squad if necessary - as we have seen in previous years, such a need can arise, and the reasons can be different.

      In 2022 at Monza, Alex Elbon needed emergency surgery to remove his Apedix, and that weekend his Williams was piloted by Nick de Vries, and last season his debut race in Formula 1 was conducted by Oliver Berman, because at the beginning of the race weekend in Saudi Arabia Carlos Sainz was out of action, and with the same diagnosis.

      Berman did well, driving the Ferrari to a 7th place finish at the very difficult city circuit in Jeddah, which also helped him to get a contract prize Haas driver for 2025. But he had his first race for the American team earlier, last September in Baku, when Kevin Magnussen was disqualified for one stage, because he scored too many penalty points. Sauber has no reserve driver, while the Swiss team is already owned by Audi, and in Hinwil there is a process of reforms to make it properly prepared for 2026, when its status and name will change.

      According to the newspaper Blick, usually informed about what is going on in Hinwil, Sauber does not trust any of the drivers who until recently were formally listed in its racing academy, although millions were spent on them. Last December we told you that Theo Purser and Zane Maloney are no longer working with Sauber. According to the Swiss publication, Hinwil is choosing between two candidates: between Felipe Drugovic and Antonio Giovinazzi. But the talented and fast Brazilian extended the contract of the reserve racer with Aston Martin and it is not yet a fact that with this team will be able to agree. More likely the second option, because Giovinazzi, previously played for Sauber - racer Ferrari, and on the machines of this team are still standing Italian engines. It is also worth mentioning and Valtteri Bottas: Australian Speedcafe writes that in Mercedes, whose reserve he became in 2025, can rent the Finn to McLaren or Williams, if suddenly needed. This is logical, because these teams buy from Mercedes power units. But although Bottas was a racer Sauber, on his services in Hinville can not count on: first, he now has a contract with another team, and secondly, on his former employers, he is probably offended. He does not hide that he was counting on cooperation with Audi, but in the end, the new owners of the team preferred to sign a contract with a young Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto. Blick even quotes the words of Bottas, allegedly called the period of cooperation with Sauber "three lost years".