F1 | Sauber: new race engineer for Bottas from Ferrari

In Miami Sauber showed up with some updates to both the front and rear wings in order to adapt to the specific needs of this circuit. However, those techniques aren’t the only new features of the US weekend, because behind the scenes the team is continuing to transform ahead of Audi’s arrival in 2026.

A few days ago, the Swiss team announced the arrival of Hulkenberg starting next year, focusing on a driver not only of great experience, but also of undoubted talent. However, it is not just the drivers front that the team leaders are working on, because over the last few months a massive purchasing campaign has been underway to strengthen the workforce for the next regulatory cycle.

Among the news of the Miami weekend is the change of Valtteri Bottas’ track engineer, which came almost as a surprise, even for the Finn himself. Until the last round in China, assisting the Sauber driver was Alex Chan, an engineer who has a long history in the Swiss team, having also worked with Kimi Raikkonen in his last adventure in F1 under the Alfa Romeo colours.

However, starting from this weekend, Bottas began collaborating with a different track engineer, with a change that actually surprised the Finn himself given the tight timeframe with which everything was put together: “I think this is a question to ask the team. Yes, it was a rather sudden change. Obviously it’s a Sprint weekend, so working with a new engineer won’t be easy, but obviously we’ll try to make the most of this situation. But yes, it is a rather sudden change,” Bottas explained during the press conference in Miami at the beginning of the weekend, explaining how he was not aware of the reasons that led to such a sudden change.

It is in fact quite unusual for a turnover of this type to occur during the season, unless promotions have been planned for some time. Generally we tend to wait until the end of the championship, so that driver and engineer can find the right chemistry during the winter break.

“I think that many things are changing and that there are changes taking place. Obviously, some changes are long-term. I don’t know all the reasons behind every decision that is made. But it is clear there is a change underway. People leave. People are arriving,” added Bottas.

Specifically, the Finn’s new track engineer is Steven Petrik, arriving from Ferrari, where he held the role of Performance Engineer. The American is part of the group of engineers who trained with the Cavallino through the F1 Engineering Academy program. Over the years spent at Maranello, Petrik worked with both Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz before embarking on this new adventure at Sauber, where he will step up to a role with greater responsibilities.

Steven Petrik also worked with Sebastian Vettel during the German’s time at Maranello

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

In reality, Petrik started working with the team a few months ago, taking on the role of Bottas’ track engineer during a Pirelli test carried out in Suzuka a few days after the Japanese Grand Prix. In that first juncture there was an initial contact, which then pushed the team to bring forward the rotation. Bottas was informed of the change about two weeks ago during a meeting held after the Chinese Grand Prix.

According to Alessandro Alunni Bravi, head of Sauber, it was Andreas Seidl, CEO of the team, who pushed on the accelerator to make some changes in good times: “Andreas Seidl has decided to bring forward some decisions and to start implementing the changes that will bring the current structure towards the definitive structure that we will have in the future. Of course, at some points in the season, some decisions, such as changing a race engineer, can have a certain impact, but we needed to start implementing these changes,” explained Alunni Bravi.

Petrik’s hiring from Ferrari follows other hires from rival teams, including high-profile ones, such as Max Verstappen’s former chief mechanic at Red Bull. A move that, according to the team, will help bring not only experience, but also know-how from other teams: “This is not the final structure of the team. We wanted to start working on the organizational chart and Andreas Seidl decided to do it immediately because we think that we need to bring people with experience, but also to bring engineers who cannot bring their own know-how from other teams of teams and help us develop our processes.”

“Of course, it is now up to us to integrate the new engineer and, of course, establish a good working and personal relationship between Valtteri and the engineer. This was just one of the first steps we wanted to take to set up a new organization within the team as soon as possible”, added Alunni Bravi.