Sauber saved by Alfa Romeo/Ferrari?
Working or driving for the Sauber F1 Team during the last three years must have been a hard job. You know that there is just enough money to develop a basic car, and cover the travel and other costs. And each year you already know at the start that you will be battling for the last 4 places on the grid. And the management is trying hard to find the best paid driver solution available. So either through sponsor deals, or engine supplier supported drivers or by investment companies that have a link to one of the drivers. And do you still remember the big mess when they signed 3 drivers, when only having two seats. That probably resulted in one of the team managers leaving the team this year after another management issue.
Junior Team
This week the team announced, or actually Ferrari/Alfa Romeo, that they signed a new strategic, sponsor and technical deal with Ferrari. Sauber is running the Ferrari engine, although they had signed an intention to switch to Honda power as of 2018. But out of the blue, it was announced that they wouldn’t actually go ahead with Honda. And now we know why.
There were quite some rumors for some time that Sauber could become the junior Ferrari team. Ferrari have always had a problem with placing new and young talents at their team. They simply didn’t want to take the risk. Unlike Red Bull does with the Toro Rosso team. But now that they do have two real talents in GP2 (Fuoco, Leclerc), they need to move them up the ranks soon. With most of the Top drivers already signing mayor deals for the upcoming years, they need to have their own supply of new young drivers. With Alfa Romeo stepping in as a major brand for Sauber, it’s likely that the team will be a long term junior team of Ferrari.
Sauber on the move
So it that good news for Sauber? Yes, it probably is. They finally can make some investments that reach higher than only attending and participating the races. And it’s also good news for Formula 1 in general. You want to have a plain field of competition, if possible. And by raising the level of technical support and budget, the team is able to catch up with the mid-field. In 2017 it was sometimes sad to see that the team had a 1,5 – 2 second gap to the teams in front of them. It does mean that the Ferrari package includes also the driver line-up of the team.
Seat available at Ferrari
When this new partner and sponsorship is in place, is will be the perfect place for new, young but talented drivers to start. You want to let them build up experience. And starting in 2018, by 2020 when al lot of changes are expected on the driver market Ferrari will have proof that some of their junior drivers can make the step to the next level, driving at their team. As a best guess, Raikkonnen will retire or leave Ferrari by 2020 and Vettel will probably stay to finally bring home the championship trophy. So there is a seat ticket available at Ferrari in 2020 for a junior driver…
Junior Team
This week the team announced, or actually Ferrari/Alfa Romeo, that they signed a new strategic, sponsor and technical deal with Ferrari. Sauber is running the Ferrari engine, although they had signed an intention to switch to Honda power as of 2018. But out of the blue, it was announced that they wouldn’t actually go ahead with Honda. And now we know why.
There were quite some rumors for some time that Sauber could become the junior Ferrari team. Ferrari have always had a problem with placing new and young talents at their team. They simply didn’t want to take the risk. Unlike Red Bull does with the Toro Rosso team. But now that they do have two real talents in GP2 (Fuoco, Leclerc), they need to move them up the ranks soon. With most of the Top drivers already signing mayor deals for the upcoming years, they need to have their own supply of new young drivers. With Alfa Romeo stepping in as a major brand for Sauber, it’s likely that the team will be a long term junior team of Ferrari.
Sauber on the move
So it that good news for Sauber? Yes, it probably is. They finally can make some investments that reach higher than only attending and participating the races. And it’s also good news for Formula 1 in general. You want to have a plain field of competition, if possible. And by raising the level of technical support and budget, the team is able to catch up with the mid-field. In 2017 it was sometimes sad to see that the team had a 1,5 – 2 second gap to the teams in front of them. It does mean that the Ferrari package includes also the driver line-up of the team.
Seat available at Ferrari
When this new partner and sponsorship is in place, is will be the perfect place for new, young but talented drivers to start. You want to let them build up experience. And starting in 2018, by 2020 when al lot of changes are expected on the driver market Ferrari will have proof that some of their junior drivers can make the step to the next level, driving at their team. As a best guess, Raikkonnen will retire or leave Ferrari by 2020 and Vettel will probably stay to finally bring home the championship trophy. So there is a seat ticket available at Ferrari in 2020 for a junior driver…