Hulkenberg announced at Sauber

A Sauber confirmed that Nico Hulkenberg will join the team Formula 1 from 2025 and in the Audi era.

This Friday morning, Hulkenberg’s current team, Haas, announced that the German will leave the squad at the end of the 2024 season.

The 36-year-old was out of contract at Haas and had long been known to be on Audi F1 CEO Andreas Seidl’s list.

Hulkenberg will now join the team, which will still be known as Sauber in 2025, a year before Audi’s official entry into F1 in 2026, on a multi-year deal. He previously raced for the Swiss team in 2013.

“I’m returning to the team I worked with in 2013 and I have fond memories of the strong team spirit in Switzerland,” said Hulkenberg.

“The prospect of competing for Audi is something very special. When a German manufacturer enters Formula 1 with such determination, it is a unique opportunity.

“Representing the factory team of a car brand with an engine made in Germany is a great honor for me.”

Hulkenberg and Seidl have previously worked together in Porsche’s WEC team, with the pair winning the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans together in Hulkenberg’s cameo appearance for the Weissach team, of which Seidl was boss.

“We are very pleased to welcome Nico back here at Hinwil from 2025 and to compete with him in F1,” commented Seidl.

“With his speed, experience and commitment to teamwork, he will be an important part of the transformation of our team – and of Audi’s F1 project.

“From the beginning, there was a great mutual interest in building something long-term together.

“Nico is a strong personality and his contribution, on a professional and personal level, will help us to progress both in the development of the car and in the construction of the team.”

Audi is also known to have made an offer to Carlos Sainz to join Hulkenberg at the team next year, but the Spaniard is still considering his options as there are other potential vacancies at F1’s top teams.

If Sainz puts pen to paper, it would mean that current Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu are set to leave the team at the end of the year.

Ferrari reserve driver Oliver Bearman is considered the main candidate to replace Hulkenberg at Haas, on loan from the Italian team.

Sauber is yet to score points in 2024, having been plagued by pit stop problems during the opening races of the season, while Audi is working in the background to deliver a stronger package for the 2026 regulation changes.