Mattia Binotto spoke about recent rumors of rival drivers being linked to Audi, highlighting that this shows how the rookie team has a successful project in Formula 1.
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The German brand took over Sauber at the end of 2025 to make its entry on the grid in 2026. In 11 rounds, it scored three times with Gabriel Bortoleto and once with Nico Hülkenberg, appearing in eighth position in the Constructors’ World Championship with 12 points accumulated so far.
As the team has been showing increasingly better results, drivers have been linked to the project. Carlos Sainz has been among the rumors of moving to Audi in 2027, while Oscar Piastri also emerges as a possibility – but Binotto made clear his satisfaction with the current duo.
“First, I myself am not reading the newspapers, or not reading much, so I find out things from you. Carlos is certainly someone I know very well, and it is somehow easy and obvious to associate him with Audi, but I can only say that I am very satisfied with the driver duo we have,” he told RacingNews365.
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“Often, when talking about Gabriel and Nico, I hear people say it is a good combination between experience and, on the other hand, a young driver. I, however, would evaluate them differently. They are two very fast drivers, and I am happy that they are both fast, so we have a good duo,” he emphasized.
“The fact that other drivers are linked to our team only makes me very happy, as it shows that the credibility of our project is increasing. This shows that the external perception that one day we could be competitive is no longer just a rumor, but a fact,” he concluded.
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