Few drivers make it to Formula 1, but their odds of doing so skyrocket by being affiliated with an F1 team’s junior driver programme. This series explores the performances of driver academy members in 2024. Today’s spotlight: the Sauber Academy.

By Calla Kra-Caskey

As the F1 team transitions from Alfa Romeo to Sauber to Audi, its junior programme is in a similar state of flux. In 2024, five drivers were members of the Sauber Academy; for four of them, this year seems to have been their final one in junior single-seaters.

When Sauber hired a rookie driver for their F1 team, they looked outside of their program to McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto, who ended up winning the 2024 F2 title as a rookie.

Check out the e-book below to read all eight of the 2024 F1 driver academy reviews!

Théo Pourchaire (Super Formula, P25; IndyCar, P28)

Pourchaire’s career has stagnated somewhat since he won the F2 championship in his third season in the series last year. The Frenchman continued his role as reserve driver for Sauber, formerly Alfa Romeo, but went through his share of mid-year contract drama related to his IndyCar seat.

Pourchaire was originally set to compete in a full season of Super Formula with Team Impul. In the first race, he finished last on the road.

In April, Pourchaire drove two races in IndyCar for McLaren in place of an injured David Malukas, finishing 11th on debut and 22nd in his second race. The team then announced that he would replace Malukas for the rest of the season, barring the Indy 500. As a consequence of that announcement, Pourchaire left his Super Formula seat for the remainder of the season.

Pourchaire’s full-time McLaren ride lasted three races before he was replaced by Nolan Siegel. His best result was a top-10 finish in Detroit.

In July, after McLaren’s Alexander Rossi was injured during the first practice session for IndyCar’s Toronto round, Pourchaire flew overnight from Europe to Canada to fill in for him. He finished 14th in the race and 28th overall with 91 points across six appearances. 

Pourchaire has not raced since. He will be leaving Sauber after this year and will take up the role of test and development driver for Peugeot’s Hypercar project in the World Endurance Championship for 2025. 

Zane Maloney (F2, P4) 

After being dropped by Red Bull at the end of 2023, Maloney began this year by joining Sauber as an academy member and reserve driver. He split his Sauber reserve duties with those at Andretti’s Formula E team.

The Barbadian driver got his F2 campaign off to a storming start by winning the sprint and feature race of the opening round in Bahrain. Maloney led the F2 championship for the first four rounds. During that span of time, he took two more podiums in the Melbourne feature race and Imola sprint.

Though he lost the lead after Monaco, he went on to have another standout weekend in Silverstone, finishing second in both races. His final podium of the season came from pole in the Monza feature race.

In September, Maloney signed a contract for a full-time Formula E seat with Lola Yamaha Abt for the 2024–25 season. The first round in São Paulo coincided with F2’s final round in Abu Dhabi, which he skipped. The 21-year-old finished 12th in his first Formula E race start. 

Now graduating from junior single-seaters for good, Maloney is also leaving the Sauber Academy. 

Léna Bühler (FRegional Europe, P38)

Bühler graduated to FRegional Europe after finishing second with two wins and 13 total podiums in the inaugural F1 Academy season last year. The Swiss driver, however, was unable to find the same success in FR-level machinery. 

Bühler joined ART Grand Prix for the 2024 season, taking advantage of the rule allocating a fourth seat for drivers who had finished in the top three of the F1 Academy championship. Across the first six rounds, she achieved a best result of 22nd in the second race at Circuit Paul Ricard. That turned out to be her last race in the series, as she announced her departure via Instagram ahead of round seven. She also parted ways with the Sauber Academy at that time.

In November, Bühler participated in the Formula E women’s test with Mahindra Racing. She finished fifth on the timesheets, 1.018 seconds off the pace set by Abbi Pulling. 

Bühler has yet to announce any racing plans for 2025. 

Carrie Schreiner (F1 Academy, P9) 

Ahead of the 2024 season, F1 Academy announced that each F1 team would support a driver in the series. Sauber chose to support Schreiner, who finished 11th in F1 Academy last year, and added her to their junior programme. 

She started the year off with appearances in multiple winter series. The German driver finished 39th in F4 UAE with a best result of 21st across three rounds. In the Formula Winter Series, she also finished 39th with a best result of 17th across two rounds, although she only started four races. 

Schreiner improved her championship position by two places in her second and final season of F1 Academy, finishing ninth overall with 34 points. She had a best result of sixth, which she achieved in Zandvoort and Abu Dhabi. 

Schreiner knew by June that this would likely be her last year in single-seaters. After the conclusion of the F1 Academy season, she confirmed via Instagram that she would remain with Sauber as a brand ambassador but had graduated from their junior team. Emma Felbermayr will take her place as the Sauber-supported driver in F1 Academy.

Next year, she will continue driving with her Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie team, Girls Only by WS Racing. She also said she targeted a return to GT3 competition. 

Taym Saleh (Karting, various)

The youngest member of the Sauber Academy at 15, Saleh competed in several karting championships this year at the OK level. 

In the FIA European Karting Championship, Saleh finished 35th overall. He scored all four of his points in his super heat in Spain and managed a best final result of 24th in France. He did not participate in the final two rounds in Slovakia and Sweden. 

In the Champions of the Future Euro Series, Saleh finished 64th overall. He had a best result of 24th in the fourth round in Sweden, the only round in which he made the final, and did not compete in the final round in the United Kingdom. 

Saleh has not announced his plans for next year, and it is also unknown whether he will continue with the Sauber Academy. Regardless, he is now old enough to participate in a national F4 series and took part in the Winfield Racing School F4 training camp in September.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency