Sauber to race as Stake F1 team for two years before becoming Audi

Swiss-based Sauber announced on Monday they will race in Formula One as the Stake F1 team until they become the Audi factory outfit in 2026.

The team competed as Alfa Romeo last year but the Stellantis-owned brand has now departed.

Online betting, entertainment and lifestyle brand Stake will be the exclusive title partner in 2024 and 2025.

The crypto casino operator, which teamed up with Sauber in 2023, also sponsors Premier League side Everton and has an endorsement deal with Canadian rapper Drake.

“Last season represented the start of Stake’s journey in Formula One, and the brand’s new role headlining Stake F1 Team represents the natural and exciting next step on this path,” said team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi.

Alunni Bravi said at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November that no Audi branding would be on the car before 2026.

The team have an unchanged driver line-up of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou for 2024 and will launch their new car, the Sauber C44, in London early next month.

Australian online live streaming platform Kick.com, a subsidiary of Easygo Entertainment that also owns Stake.com, has acquired the chassis naming rights.