Explained: Why Sauber will be forced to change its name for the F1 Dutch GP

Stake F1 team Kick Sauber will race under a different name for the upcoming 2025 Dutch Grand Prix next weekend. The Swiss outfit has been in the sport for decades and has been on a resurgent run of results in the past couple of months.

The Hinwil-based outfit has been a perennial midfield outfit ever since it took over operations from BMW in 2010 and has given debuts to many recognizable names like Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez, and Charles Leclerc over the years.

Sauber Motorsports, owned by Peter Sauber, ended its title sponsorship with Alfa Romeo at the end of the 2023 season and brought on a gambling giant like Stake on board and investing heavily, and later claiming the title sponsorship.

However, the F1 team will drop Stake for its name for the upcoming Dutch GP owing to the government's strict rules against gambling. The laws were tightened at the start of the year with a prohibition on advertising of gambling brands.

Following the ruling, the Swiss team will enter the race after the summer break in Zandvoort as Kick Sauber and would hope the change will not impact its run of positive results on the track in the 2025 season. The outfit will once again change its name in the next season, with Audi taking full control of the team in the new engine regulations.

Sauber team principal reflects on the turnaround in the 2025 season

Kick Sauber F1 team principal Jonathan Wheatley stated that they, as a team, were still focused on the 2025 season despite Audi taking over the outfit next year.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Autosport, the former Red Bull man said of Audi's entry in F1:

“We haven't given up on 2025 yet. For us, it's about strength and depth in terms of our operation. So using this momentum that we've gained over the last few months, continuing getting stronger and stronger in terms of our trackside operations, our factory operations. People talk about continuous improvement; in every single area, we need to just be continually pushing the boundaries.

"We need to be adding strength in depth in the organisation. We need to be empowering the people, because this is where our shortcut to our ambitious journey is, it's in creating the right culture and creating a working environment where these people are all adding positively to the contribution of the team. So that's very much the goal.”

After initially starting the year as the slowest team on the grid, on average in terms of pace, Sauber's fortunes changed mid-season with a bunch of upgrades. The upturn in performance has resulted in both Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto consistently scoring points, with the former even getting a shock podium in Silverstone.