VCARB

Red Bull's sister team is now facing a significant decision regarding its driver lineup for the upcoming season. They have already renewed Yuki Tsunoda's contract, marking his fifth year with the team as he continues to hold onto the hope of one day securing a promotion to the main Red Bull team. However, the pressing question remains: who will partner Tsunoda next year?

Currently, Daniel Ricciardo occupies the second seat but earlier this year, rumors swirled about him potentially being replaced by Red Bull’s junior Liam Lawson. However, as the season unfolded, Ricciardo’s performance improved. At one point, he was even considered a top candidate to replace Sergio Perez mid-season due to Red Bull's dissatisfaction with Perez’s results. Ultimately, the team decided to stick with Perez for the remainder of the season.

Now, just before the Singapore GP, Ricciardo received another cold shower as the speculations about his potential replacement by Liam Lawson are back in game. Ralf Schumacher, former F1 driver and brother of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, suggested that this weekend’s Grand Prix might be Ricciardo’s last in VCARB.

Given the current situation, this could signal the end of Daniel Ricciardo's Formula 1 career, as he is not seen as a leading candidate for the final available seat at Stake/Audi.

There is still an outside chance of earning a promotion to the main team as a replacement for Sergio Perez. However, given the circumstances and Ricciardo’s results at the moment, that is not very likely to happen.

Sauber/Audi

Sauber is currently undergoing a significant transition as it prepares to be taken over by Audi, with the official partnership set to begin in 2026. In anticipation of this takeover, the team has already started laying the groundwork for its future, and a key step in that process has been the signing of Nico Hulkenberg. As an experienced German driver, Hulkenberg was a natural fit for the same-origin manufacturer.

With Hulkenberg on board, only one seat remains at Sauber, and there are quite a few candidates for that full-time position.

In the beginning, it seemed like the battle was only between their current drivers - Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou, with the first named, despite a lackluster season in terms of pace and points, viewing as the first option. 

However, as the season has progressed, other names were put on the table, especially from Mattia Binotto, Sauber/Audi’s newly-appointed Chief Operating and Chief Technical Officer.

The first one is Gabriel Bortoleto, a young Brazilian driver, who is currently leading the Formula 2 championship. Mattia Binotto has recently shown high interest in giving Bortoleto the free seat as he even had talks with McLaren over the Brazilian driver because he is part of their junior programme. As a result, the team from Woking gave it a green light, which makes Bortoleto the main candidate for the seat.

Another one in line is Theo Pourchaire, the F2 2023 champion, who has been kind of overlooked by F1 until now. Currently, he serves as a reserve driver for Kick Sauber as a driver with lots of hidden talent, which Binotto is eager to explore.

The third option is Franco Colapinto, who now has a full-time seat in Williams as he replaced Logan Sargeant 3 weeks ago due to the American driver’s disappointing results. Over only two race weekends, Colapinto has already proven that he deserves the seat, highlighting his potential by scoring 4 points last week in Baku.

However, Colapinto’s seat will get Carlos Sainz next year as he signed a contract with the British stable way before the Colapinto-Sargeant switch. As a result, Colapinto is now also one of the main candidates for the Sauber/Audi seat.

The last name on the list is Sebastian Vettel, however, this is more of a hope than an actual option. Binotto has recently revealed, how much he enjoyed working with Vettel and gave the retired driver's fans a little tease. However, the comeback of the four-time F1 world champion next year isn't very likely.