Jacques Villeneuve criticises former F1 team Sauber for “not even trying"

1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has hit out at his former team Sauber for “not even trying to be that competitive” ahead of Audi’s arrival in 2026.

Sauber are the only team on the 2024 F1 grid yet to score a point.

The Swiss-based outfit have often seen their drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu - qualify 19th and 20th respectively, before finishing well down the order on race day.

Despite starting the season fairly competitive, pit stop woes thwarted Bottas’ chances of scoring points on numerous occasions.

As the development race progressed, Sauber have plummeted to the back of the grid, cut adrift of the likes of Alpine and Williams.

Audi will take over the Sauber from 2026, becoming a fully-fledged works outfit.

However, Villeneuve - who previously raced for the team during their BMW days - didn’t mince his words when criticising them ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“I mean the funny thing is about Sauber is that they’re at the back more or less every qualifying and more or less every race, but you look at the times, the grid is so close, it’s only about a second, maybe a second-and-a-half that they’re off pole,” he said.

“So, it’s obviously not a bad Formula 1 car, it’s just compared to everybody else it is. They would be happy in the 1990s when the last guys were five seconds off the pace.

“But they’re just surviving until Audi takes over. They don’t seem like they’re pushing much into the car.

“They’re not even trying to be that competitive, so, there’s not much to say there.”

Sauber are still yet to decide their 2025 F1 driver line-up.

Nico Hulkenberg was announced earlier in the year, but new Audi boss Mattia Binotto is weighing up his options.

Bottas remains a clear option for them, while they’re reportedly considering McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto.

Bortoleto sits top of the Formula 2 drivers’ standings with one round to go in 2024.