Ocon To Be 'Very High Up' On Audi's Potential Driver List

Alpine driver Esteban Ocon is reportedly very high up on the list of potential drivers for Audi, who will enter Formula One in 2026.

Stake F1 team is the new name of Sauber and marks the transition period before the team gets rebranded to Audi. While there are still two years remaining before the rebranding happens, crucial driver decisions might have to take place now.

14 out of 20 drivers on the F1 grid in 2024 have their contracts expiring at the end of the season. All the drivers will want more than 1-year contracts, and they might get snatched from Audi by other teams.

Therefore, the Stake team has to think about the future and possibly lock the drivers that they will want to race for Audi already for season 2025.

There have been numerous speculations on which drivers might be interested in driving for the team. And more importantly, there have been also numerous speculations on which drivers the German team might be interested in.

Some drivers whose names have been mentioned in connection to Audi include Mick Schumacher, Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas, and Esteban Ocon.

According to an article by Lawrence Barretto on F1's official website, the Alpine Formula One driver is very high up on Audi's list. Barretto wrote:

Ocon has been faithful to Alpine/ Renault for four years, but his team wasn't able to deliver the Frenchman a Championship-contending car throughout this period.

The 27-year-old recently said it is tough for him to watch his piers Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc fighting for race wins when he knows he could be there with them. The Frenchman asserted his time will come, could it be with Audi?