Could Mattia Binotto be the unexpectedly key factor in F1 driver market?

Mattia Binotti’s arrival at Audi could influence the F1 driver market, Valtteri Bottas admits.

Only four seats remain until the 2025 F1 driver line-up is complete.

Sauber/Audi, RB, Alpine and Mercedes must make their decisions before an unlucky handful of drivers will have their dreams dashed.

Sauber’s Bottas is among the drivers with an uncertain future.

But huge changes to the management structure of Audi (who will run in F1 as Sauber next year) could have an impact.

Ex-Ferrari team principal Binotto will join Audi as Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer, while Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffman will exit.

Jonathan Wheatley will leave Red Bull to become Audi team principal.

“It is going to reset the talks a bit,” Bottas conceded about his negotiations to stay.

“Because we have previously been in communication with Andreas and Oliver, and now it’s Mattia.

“For sure that will change some things. So we need to speak.

“It’s a bit of a complicated situation, but let’s see.”

Sauber, who will evolve into Audi in 2026 when the new regulations kick in, have signed Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg for next season but are undecided on their other driver.

Bottas and current teammate Guanyu Zhou both hope to stay but there is only room for one.

The Audi project has been criticised, with Carlos Sainz’s decision to snub them in favour of Williams identified as significant.

“It was a vote of no confidence for Sauber/Audi,” Craig Slater reported on the Sky F1 podcast. “Chiefly when you think about the family connection with Sainz and Carlos Sainz Senior winning Dakar with Audi and the Volkswagen Group.

“For him to walk away from that when it seemed the most obvious place for him to go is a clear sign that things are not right there.”

Bottas said about the new boss of the F1 team: “Mattia needs to know what are the weaknesses, what are the strengths.

“What are the priorities for short and long-term improvements? And that’s going to take a bit of time.

“Obviously some things are internal, but we know that compared to the big teams, we’re still lacking a bit of human power.

“There are certain areas that we definitely need to focus on, at the factory but also with the car performance.

“We're at the moment not where we need to be. We needed some new upgrades and [to go] in the right direction.

“It’s been pretty clear that all the decisions in the last year or two have been made to be competitive from ‘26.

“I know it’s not ideal in some cases. For me, unfortunately, many times fighting towards the back end.

But my job is still to do the very best I can. And at the same time push the team and contribute the best I can. That’s all I can do at the moment.

“Hopefully from now on, things will be a bit more stable and there’s a clear direction.”

Neither of Sauber’s drivers have scored a point this season.

Zhou scored their best result with P11 at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.