P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Sauber Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi has revealed how Audi’s influence was involved in the abrupt change to Valtteri Bottas’ Formula 1 race engineer. Prior to the Miami Grand Prix, Sauber announced that ex-Ferrari performance engineer Steven Petrik was to replace Alex Chan as the voice in Bottas’ ear on the radio. The news proved […]
Prior to the Miami Grand Prix, Sauber announced the replacement of Alex Chan with ex-Ferrari performance engineer Steven Petrik as Bottas’ radio voice. The Finnish driver, out of contract this season, expressed surprise as he claimed it was not his decision. Bottas faced a three-place grid penalty in Miami for impeding McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in Sprint quali due to the unexpected change. Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl’s restructuring decision was confirmed by Alunni Bravi, with the aim of transitioning the team to Audi by 2026. Petrik had joined Bottas since the Pirelli test after the Chinese GP, a change initiated in Shanghai following discussions with the driver. Alunni Bravi emphasized the need for experienced individuals from top teams to aid in the team’s development processes, regardless of potential outcomes with such decisions. Lastly, Sauber clarified that the decision to swap engineers was unrelated to the announcement of Nico Hulkenberg’s future arrival, as it was part of their early steps in implementing a new organization within the race team structure.
