Binotto likens Audi challenge to 'climbing Everest' ahead of 2026 debut

New Audi chief Mattia Binotto has admitted the task of turning the current Sauber team into Formula One winners will be like “climbing Everest”.

Sauber, the team which has been bought by Audi and will transform into the German manufacturer’s outfit in 2026, are enduring a torrid season.

The Swiss team are rooted to the bottom of the constructors' championship, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu failing to score a point in 2024 so far.

In fact, their best finish came at the Bahrain Grand Prix in the opening race of the season, with Guanyu finishing in 11th place.

Former Ferrari team principal Binotto, who was installed as chief operating officer and chief technical officer in August, has been tasked with spearheading Audi’s F1 project, though he acknowledged the challenges that lie ahead.

"It’s not only climbing a big mountain, it’s climbing Everest. It will take several years," Binotto told BBC Sport.

"Our objective is by the end of the decade to be able to fight for the championships."

This is the return of the 'Stake' Cowboy#USGP pic.twitter.com/T63JuKA6Oo

— Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber (@stakef1team_ks) October 14, 2024

Binotto added: "When you are here and you start looking into the details, the more you look, the more you realise where you are and what are the main differences to what I knew from before from Ferrari.

"Certainly the gap and the differences are many and the gap is big.

"It’s big because of dimensions, because of the number of people, because of mindset, because of tools, facilities.

"Whatever you look around, it is really comparing a small team to a top team."

Sauber are yet to decide who will complete their driver line-up for the 2025 season alongside new signing Nico Hulkenberg.

Bottas is a leading contender to join the German on the grid in 2026, though Williams stand-in Franco Colapinto has impressed since replacing Logan Sargeant.

Binotto has also confirmed that Mercedes reserve driver Mick Schumacher, who lost his full-time F1 seat with Haas at the end of 2022, is also in the frame.