Mattia Binotto details the aspects where Sauber needs to evolve after a period in “survival mode”
Mattia Binotto insisted that there is still much to do at Sauber to transform the team's culture and develop a winning mindset before it becomes Audi.
The former Ferrari team director joined the team last August as Chief Operating Officer and Technical Director, following the departure of CEO Andreas Seidl and Audi executive Oliver Hoffmann. These changes come as the team prepares to become Audi’s official Formula 1 team starting in 2026.
The 2024 season was a major failure for Sauber, who finished last in the constructors’ standings with only four points. Now, Mattia Binotto is leading a large-scale transformation, as Audi harbors great ambitions for its F1 project.
A new alignment for 2025
As part of this transformation, Sauber will field a brand-new driver duo in 2025: the veteran Nico Hülkenberg and the promising rookie Gabriel Bortoleto. This change marks the end of the collaboration with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, the drivers from the previous season.
However, Mattia Binotto believes that the necessary changes go well beyond the team’s composition and concern all members of the organization based in Hinwil. The objective is to rectify the situation and show signs of progress as early as next season.
Asked in Abu Dhabi during the last race weekend of 2024 about Valtteri Bottas’s opinion that Sauber needed to develop a winning mentality, Mattia Binotto responded: « I completely agree with him. In fact, I think this team, over the past few years and even the last decade, has been operating in survival mode. »
« In the end, it was about surviving, participating, trying to make the best out of it. But a winning mentality, a winning mindset, is a different approach. So there is certainly a lot to do in terms of culture and behaviors, » he explains.
A long road to 2026
As the arrival of Audi in 2026 approaches, Mattia Binotto also highlighted other crucial factors in the transformation process, including last November’s announcement that the Qatar Investment Authority had acquired a significant minority stake in Sauber Holding AG.
« It’s a long road, we are aware of it, and influencing behavior might be the hardest part. But we have started our journey, » continued the Italian.
« I think we have several projects… I have to say that since I started, a lot has already happened, not just improvements on the track, like signing Bortoleto and setting up a new lineup for next year.
« This also includes Qatar, with its investment and partnership, which represents a significant injection of capital for us, but it shows that as a team, we are moving in the right direction, with the right approach and an ambitious mindset. This is exactly the mentality we are talking about, » he concluded.
