The future Audi team fighting for a top spot
In the past, Formula 1 teams often had to “rework” the branding of tobacco sponsors, which dominated the sport for decades. Some of the ideas teams came up with to transform cigarette brands were particularly clever—take, for example, McLaren, which would replace its tobacco sponsor’s logo with the names “Mika” (Häkkinen) and “David” (Coulthard) on race weekends.
Today, tobacco sponsorship is no longer allowed in motorsports, but that doesn’t mean teams don’t still face restrictions or adjustments with other types of sponsors. One current example is Sauber, which is entered for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort under the name “Kick Sauber” without its title sponsor Stake.
Stake is an online gambling platform, and Dutch gambling regulations are particularly strict. For this reason, the future Audi-powered team will compete at Zandvoort without any branding or references to Stake.
The team, led by Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley, has been one of the positive surprises of the 2025 season. Sauber is currently fighting for a prestigious position in the Constructors’ Championship, sitting seventh and just one point behind sixth-placed Aston Martin.
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