After the surprising move from McLaren's Andreas Seidl to move away from the team to take up a new role as CEO of Sauber, questions have arisen over the future plans of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. The appointment of Seidl is said to align with the strategic takeover of Sauber from Audi, with the brand set to enter as an engine manufacturer in 2026. Bottas has previously said he would like stick around for the evolution of the project , but Ralf Schumacher believes the Finn may not be around to see the transition to Audi. "I'm curious to see what ideas Andreas Seidl has with the drivers, there are also rumours," he told MotorsportTotal . "Zhou is more or less set, brings a lot of money with him, which is significant until 2026, when Audi really comes in. "But Bottas, you hear a bit, is counted on and should not necessarily stay there too long."
Schumacher: Seidl right man for the Audi job
Schumacher says the move from Seidl is the right step for him given his previous experience working with the Volkswagen Group on their Porsche LMP1 programme. "The experience Andreas Seidl had previously with Porsche prototypes, now with McLaren, that's obviously worth a lot of money, and he brings a lot to the table," he explains. "And accordingly, that's going to work pretty well. Sauber is also well established, and this year they didn't have a bad car at all, it has to be said." Zak Brown confirmed that Seidl told him he did not wish to stay to the end of his contract in 2025 . McLaren's James Key also recently spoke to RacingNews365.com exclusively about how the team is lagging behind in its infrastructure redevelopment due to Covid-related delays, something Schumacher believes could be the reason for Seidl's departure. "I think that in the end, it will all take a while [at McLaren]," he said. "This year the whole issue is lagging behind a bit. I also believe that the restructuring, the construction of the wind tunnel, which is urgently needed, is holding up [the team] at the moment. That may have taken too long [for Seidl]."
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