The search is on for drivers to fill the upcoming vacancies at Haas and Sauber teams.
Following Audi's acquisition of Sauber, the team initiated a new wave of 'silly season' chatter last Friday, announcing that Nico Hulkenberg will be joining their lineup from 2025. The Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet has reported that the small American team Haas "wants to continue with Kevin Magnussen" in one of their seats, although this has not yet been confirmed.
Meanwhile, The Times in Britain suggests that Oliver Bearman, the 18-year-old sensational Ferrari reserve who impressed during his stand-in duties, is the leading candidate for a 2025 seat at Haas. Team principal Ayao Komatsu, who has plans to give Bearman some Friday practice sessions this season, remarked, "His performance when he was suddenly sitting in a Ferrari was outstanding. We already knew last year that he was a great talent, but it was still impressive how he mastered the task in that Ferrari."
Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly from Alpine are also considered possibilities for the available seat at Haas, while the Sauber team's current key driver, Valtteri Bottas, is rumored to be linked with Haas as well.
"They still need a good, experienced driver," former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher observed. "I don't think Magnussen will be enough for that. My opinion is that Bottas will replace Hulkenberg, but we will have to wait and see."
Sauber, now under Audi's ownership, is likely to let go of its Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou at the end of this year, with Carlos Sainz tipped as a prime candidate to partner with Hulkenberg in 2025. However, Schumacher suggested that Sainz might opt for a shorter-term agreement with Mercedes instead, noting, "It will be a difficult year for Hulkenberg and whoever the second driver is. But I imagine that Sainz is the preferred candidate. He (Sainz) doesn't have many options. If Max Verstappen doesn't leave, I don't think Red Bull is that interesting for him."
Yet, Sainz's prospects at Mercedes might also be limited as Toto Wolff focuses on developing new talent Kimi Antonelli. "Lewis (Hamilton) has put Mercedes in a difficult situation," remarked Nico Rosberg, the 2016 world champion. "Carlos probably wants a multi-year contract, and that doesn't make much sense from Mercedes' point of view because of Antonelli. 2025 would be asking a lot of Antonelli, because he's yet to show anything in Formula 2. And that's the minimum requirement to be eligible for F1. That's why Toto has to take his time and wait until the summer or autumn, but waiting too long is not an option either. Then he will have no alternative at the end of the year."
