Sauber Motorsport is operating under a new team name for the 2024 F1 season.
This year, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu are racing for Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber.
The re-branding came following the departure of title sponsor Alfa Romeo.
The Sporting News takes a closer look at the name change.
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Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber: Name change, explained
There are a few components to this new team name, so we have broken them down:
Stake
Stake.com is an online casino and gambling platform.
The company was founded by Australian-based entrepreneurs Bijan Tehrani and Edward Craven, although it is operated by Medium Rare NV in Curaçao.
As a global company, it holds an online casino licence.
Working together, pursuing one dream 💚 pic.twitter.com/u4h6CZVnb2
— Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber (@stakef1team_ks) April 27, 2024
Notably, rapper Drake is an ambassador for the company and is regularly involved in the online promotion of the brand.
Stake was a co-title partner of the team in 2023 but now possesses full naming rights.
Kick
Kick is a video live-streaming platform that rivals popular site Twitch.
It is a relatively new venture, incepted in Australia in late 2022.
There is an existing relationship between Stake and Kick – it is parted-owned by Tehrani, while Craven is the current CEO.
The platform has also been criticised for its "lax moderation and embrace of online gambling," per The New York Times.
Sauber
The addition of Sauber to the end of the team is a reference to Sauber Motorsport AG – a Swiss motorsport engineering company.
As a company, they joined F1 in 1993 as Team Sauber.
Since then, they have participated under various names, including Red Bull Sauber, Sauber Petronas, BMW Sauber, and Alfa Romeo.
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New era, same team spirit 💚🖤
— Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber (@stakef1team_ks) February 29, 2024
🙏 @ValtteriBottas
🙏 @ZhouGuanyu24 pic.twitter.com/k5k1guQQHd
When will Sauber re-brand to Audi?
The current team name will only exist for two seasons, with the Swiss team to re-brand as Audi in 2026.
They will become the German manufacturer's factory team.
Who is the Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber team principal?
Sauber does not technically have a designated team principal.
However, Alessandro Alunni Bravi is front and centre as the 'team representative'.
The 49-year-old has a long history in motorsport and was previously the managing director at Trident Racing.
He is also experienced in the legal field, having worked as general counsel of ART Grand Prix and Spark Racing Technology.
Bravi works closely with Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl – McLaren's former team principal.
