Formula 1 Team Sauber Plans To Increase Its Staff By 100 Members

Formula 1 team Sauber "plans to increase its workforce by a quarter" as it bids to haul itself back into the F1 midfield in '18, Team Principal Frédéric Vasseur said, according to Lawrence Barretto of MOTORSPORT. Vasseur is in the process of "overhauling the team," having taken over from Monisha Kaltenborn, and is "turning his attention to the staff numbers after securing the latest spec engine from Ferrari" for '18. The Swiss team's current staff stands at "around 320, one of the smallest on the grid," but Vasseur "hopes to boost that by around 100 by strengthening all departments, particularly aerodynamics." Vasseur hinted the recruitment "could happen reasonably quickly" and used former team Renault, where he spent a year as team principal, as an example. He said, "When I joined Renault last year, we were at 470 and I left at 600" (MOTORSPORT, 9/10).