Nico Hulkenberg “not in crisis” despite being outpaced by rookie teammate, says Sauber boss
Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley is brushing off concerns about Nico Hulkenberg’s performance, even as rookie Gabriel Bortoleto continues to outshine the veteran driver on track.
“It’s a question that I’m being asked more and more often now,” Wheatley admitted after the Baku race. “I personally don’t feel there’s any fundamental issue here.”
The stats tell a different story.
Bortoleto now leads the qualifying battle 13-7 against his more experienced teammate when including Sprint Shootouts. The rookie has also started closing the gap in race results, narrowing Hulkenberg’s advantage to just 10-9 with Sprint results factored in.
“Nico is a tremendous, experienced and fast racing driver,” Wheatley defended. “Many, many times he’s been out-qualified by a thousandth, a hundredth. It’s not always a big thing.”
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix highlighted the growing performance gap between the drivers. While neither scored points in a tough weekend for the team, Bortoleto finished 11th – just outside the points – while Hulkenberg trailed behind in 16th.
“Gabriel’s fast as well, and if one of them gets the lap right, one of them is going to out-qualify the other,” Wheatley explained.
The team boss suggested Bortoleto might be benefiting from racing at familiar circuits recently. “Gabriel has certainly been at a run of circuits where he’s more familiar with. With Nico, I don’t think there’s anything big to get over. He’ll just string it together.”
## Sauber ready for Audi transformation in F1 2026
Despite the current driver performance questions, Wheatley remains confident Sauber is on the right track as it prepares to transform into Audi’s factory team.
With Mattia Binotto serving as CTO and COO alongside Wheatley as team principal, the German manufacturer has big ambitions. They’re not just joining the grid – they’re aiming for championships, with Binotto setting 2030 as their target for a title push.
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