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Sauber has officially announced that it will run with Ferrari power for the next number of years in Formula 1. On Thursday, the company announced that it was cancelling its proposed deal with Honda, that had been negotiated and sorted under the leadership of Monisha Kaltenborn.
However, since Kaltenborn's departure, the deal has been in doubt. Sauber has been running with Ferrari power for many years now, and will continue to do so into 2018 and beyond. The deal will see Sauber return to up-to-date power as it has been running with year-old engines this season. New team principal Frederic Vasseur says he is very happy to announce the deal.
"I am very pleased to confirm that we will continue to work with Scuderia Ferrari as our engine supplier in form of a multi-year agreement. The shared experience between the Sauber F1 Team and Ferrari has built a strong foundation, which will allow us to move forward swiftly and efficiently, also in terms of the development of the 2018 car. I am convinced that together we can achieve the results which reflect the passion and determination that is, and always has been, behind the Sauber F1 Team."
Rumours are also suggesting that the deal also brings in the agreement that Sauber must run a Ferrari junior driver for 2018. With Antonio Giovinazzi and Charles Leclerc waiting on the sidelines, Ferrari is anxious to get them both racing in F1.
Fergal Walsh
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (9)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Unsurprising, hopefully Leclerc gets a seat
ianf1
Posts: 185
Are they still going to be year old units, or current spec?
xoya
Posts: 583
As far as I can make out of the article they are going to be up-to-date power units.
ianf1
Posts: 185
Maybe this was their game plan all along, flirt with Honda to get current Ferrari units?
F1racefan97
Posts: 113
Good partnership for both, no way would sauber really want to be more uncompetitive and Ferrari need a place for Their youth drivers win win
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Can they really afford it though? But yeah, this was a logical decision for them. Mercedes was never an option, and Renault.. Well, I doubt they want to collab with Vasseur again any time soon, so that leaved us with Honda and Ferrari, a safe but expensive card, a not as safe but less expensive card.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
The reason why kaltenborn wanted to go with was cost motivated. The turn around was because they could not afford to have another uncompetive year. Allignment with ferrari makes perfect sense. Glad that they changed leadership. Good luck to them.
Bhurt
Posts: 320
The new owners are likely behind the change, and they're paying the bills so I'm sure the cost wont be a problem for them.
Nice to see them looking to get competitive rather than just participate.
I'm sure they'll run a Ferrari junior at some point, interesting to see if Wherlein or Ericsson stays, or both as I don't think either of the Ferrari juniors is ready yet. Giovicrashi definitely isn't, but perhaps its better to have him crash his own car rather than other peoples cars.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Ericsson looks safe, Im more concerned about Wehrlein. If they want to please Ferrari, they'll get rid of the Mercedes junior in favour of a Ferrari junior.