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Sauber's new team principal, Frederic Vasseur, has revealed that the Swiss team is targeting a return to F1's midfield, and more specifically, the front of the midfield. Since the beginning of F1's V6 Hybrid engine era, the team has consistently been on the back foot, having scored only 43 points in three and a half seasons of competition. With Vasseur now at the helm however, the team has a brighter future.
"We have no ambition to beat Mercedes and Ferrari in the short term," the Frenchman told Auto Hebdo. "But we do need to catch up with the private teams as soon as possible, such as Williams and Force India. It is necessary to be in the fight for the podium."
"Before joining Sauber I had to make sure the team has the resources and the ambitions. It will be difficult to achieve something in the short term, but I think the basics are there," he added.
"Compared to other teams, the facility is impressive, the wind tunnel is a good one, and I think the team spirit is comparable to what I saw last year in Enstone. Now that the financial structure is stabilised I think we can have some hope for the future."
Vasseur, who is one of the founders of ART Grand Prix and used to be the team principal of Renault, was drafted into Sauber to replace Monisha Kaltenborn who left the team prior to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. In his short time in office, Vasseur has secured Sauber a competitive engine deal for 2018, which will see the Swiss outfit continue using Ferrari power instead of switching to Honda. Use of up-to-date engines in 2018 for Sauber however, has led to the team being linked to becoming a Ferrari junior team, which could result in the departure of Pascal Wehrlein as Ferrari look set to install one of its drivers at the team for next season.
Chris Soulsby
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