Team story
Origins
The Kick Sauber name identified the Hinwil team’s 2024–2025 period after the end of its Alfa Romeo agreement. Stake and Kick appeared in its commercial name, while work continued with the Sauber organisation and Ferrari engines. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu drove the C44: this was not the birth of a new Swiss racing department, but a transitional phase towards the Audi project.
The Formula 1 journey
The C44 suffered from poor competitiveness and early pit-stop problems. Zhou took eighth place in Qatar, giving the team its only points of 2024. In 2025, Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto replaced both drivers.
At Silverstone, Hülkenberg started nineteenth and took third place in changeable conditions, fending off Lewis Hamilton: his first Formula 1 podium also became the best result under this name.
Historical timeline
Three chapters in the story of Kick Sauber
Three episodes to revisit the people, cars and races that shaped this journey.
First appearance · Bahrain Grand Prix
Guanyu Zhou · Bahrain Grand Prix 2024. The recorded position is P11; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the first recorded race start, or the first entry if the team never started a race.
Sporting landmark · British Grand Prix
Nico Hülkenberg · British Grand Prix 2025. The recorded position is P3; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This marks the first win or podium where one exists, otherwise the highest recorded placing for this constructor.
Latest recorded appearance · Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Gabriel Bortoleto · Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2025. The recorded position is P11; this number alone does not show whether the driver completed the race distance. This is the last race start attributed to this constructor in the archive, not necessarily the end of the organisation behind it.
A distinctive way of racing
The C44 and C45 continued Sauber’s chassis numbering. The Ferrari engine and Hinwil workshop maintained technical continuity during changes in sponsors, ownership and management. Hülkenberg’s return brought experience, while Bortoleto was making his World Championship debut.
Meanwhile, Audi was preparing a works constructor commitment, with responsibilities different from those of a simple sponsor on the bodywork.
What remains
The two-year period ended in 2025 before the change to the Audi name in 2026. The British podium therefore belongs to Kick Sauber and should not be retrospectively credited to the new German team. This chapter encompasses one season almost entirely without points and a subsequent one capable of producing a notable result: the clearest sporting change between two commercial identities of the same organisation.