Why Bottas is the unimaginative choice for Sauber in 2025

Whilst 2026 will usher in a new regulatory era, next year will see a wave of young talent reach F1's shores.

The 2025 season will see no fewer than three rookies compete in the so-called pinnacle of motorsport.

That is if Liam Lawson can still be considered one and if he does, as expected, retain his RB seat, at the very least, after his second cameo in as many years.

That would be four, but why not make it five?

It's difficult to legislate for the Red Bull family, which may bring in Isack Hadjar at RB - if Lawson does indeed get the nod alongside Max Verstappen.

That would mean a quarter of the grid will enter their first full season of grand prix racing.

However, the other remaining unclaimed seat should have rookie written all over it - and yet, somehow, curiously doesn't.

Stake has already locked up Nico Hulkenberg for next term and its transition to Audi and all roads are currently leading to Valtteri Bottas re-signing with the team, for 2025 at least.

By all means, 2025 is a market correction for the F1 grid remaining unchanged between the end of last season and the start of the current campaign, but every now and again, it's wise to steer into the slide.

Bottas question broader than metrics

Bottas is the safe option. Undeniably safe, in fact. But he is also the unimaginative choice, particularly with exciting young drivers waiting in the wings.

The 35-year-old's current team-mate, Zhou Guanyu, appears to have reached the end of the road in F1, so Stake's options can essentially be distilled down to Bottas vs. rookies.

In many ways it is difficult to assess, and therefore critique, the 10-time grand prix winner's season due to the inadequate machinery at his disposal.

The Sauber entry is adrift of the pack, particularly on one-lap pace, and is on course for its first scoreless season since 2014 and only the second time since the team joined F1 in 1993.

Further still, Zhou has underperformed to the extent that he is seldom a sufficient benchmark to compare Bottas against.

It is also difficult to weigh him up against the three rookies - Théo Pourchaire, Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto - still believed to be in with a thin chance of beating Bottas to the seat, given only one has started a grand prix.

However, arguing for or against Bottas' survival - or rather, likely contract extension - is broader than such metrics and is part of a bigger picture.

Surplus to requirements

Simply put, the former Williams and Mercedes driver is surplus to requirements at Stake. There is nothing Bottas offers that Hulkenberg does not.

Both are experienced, will help develop the car over the next year as the Audi era edges ever closer and provide a consistent level of performance.

Yes, having two such drivers will provide more information and a deeper understanding, especially when set-up preference and driver styles are considered, but the alternative will have greater long-term upside. 

It is worth noting that this article is not to advocate on behalf of a specific aforementioned would-be rookie (that will come later), but rather to endorse Stake going the rookie route more generally.

Audi will be a factory team, still a coup in F1 despite the recent success of customer teams like McLaren and Alpine forgoing its works team status.

The German marque faces a considerable and steep learning curve, but it needs to have an eye on the future, something a rookie provides.

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The fact that Bortoleto and Colapinto are attached to McLaren and Williams respectively is by the by. Audi has and will increasingly have serious pull. It would do well to trust in that process and select a rookie who can grow with the team.

Plus, as Fernando Alonso recently put it when discussing the prospect of Bortoleto joining Stake: "There are never problems in Formula 1 - everything can be adjusted."

Now is the time for Stake and, by extension, Audi to take risks. F1 is one year out from its largest regulations overhaul in over a decade.

Bedding-in a rookie through 2025 offers the right balance and ultimate pay-off.

Whilst Bottas has failed to show enough to shore-up his F1 future, Stake's impending decision is less about tangibles and more about over-arching approach and preparing for the future - at least it should be.