01 January 2024 , 09:04
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Sauber have announced their new team name for 2024 - and this time it will stick.
After all, this is the second new 'name' for the outfit in as many weeks. On December 15, the official FIA entry list for the 2024 Formula 1 season was published, naming the Swiss-based squad as Stake F1 Kick Team Sauber.
It was quite the change from six years of being branded as the Alfa Romeo team, with that sponsorship deal now at an end. And it prompted an underwhelmed response from fans who bemoaned how much of a mouthful it was to see two sponsors appear alongside the traditional Sauber name.
But a few days later came a twist. In a social media post on December 19, the team told fans: "While we're not ready to unveil the final results yet, we are aware of what's at stake. Rest assured, we're on a mission to unleash the most exciting team identity this team has ever seen. Gone are the days of the short and sweet. We're cooking up a feast."
The preparation time is finally done and the team has finally served up its actual name for the upcoming season. At 9am on Monday, it announced that it will be known as the Stake F1 Team.
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While this latest name appears to be here to stay for at least the 2024 campaign, it is still only a temporary guise. In two years, Audi will make its official entrance into the F1 world and the Sauber outfit will transform into the German carmaker's works team.
Audi has also signed up with the FIA as power unit constructors and have been hard at work designing and building those engines at a facility in Neuberg an der Donau. It is expected that they will be ready in time to power the chassis, which will continue to be constructed at the Sauber base in Hinwil, Switzerland.
What must also be decided before 2026 is who will be racing for the team in its new era. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu currently race for the Sauber outfit, but new owners may decided to make changes and have hinted that they would prefer to have at least one German driver on the grid.
Audi have already begun working closely with the team, but have decided to wait until 2026 before making a grand entrance. Explaining why, team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi said: "It's not a limbo period - we build our future here and now, it's not that there is a separation between the Sauber period and the Audi period.
"We are working since the beginning of the year with our group CEO Andreas Seidl for this transformation process. The entry of Audi in Formula 1 as of 2026 is big news for the entire F1 community, not just important for Sauber to be chosen as a strategic partner. I think all Formula 1 will benefit from this."