Just when fans were really getting excited about the big leap forward for Sauber this season, the team have decided it is time to stop spending on further car development for 2018 and turn its focus on the 2019 challenger. Team boss Fred Vassuer said:
“At one stage, and that stage is next week, we will stop the development of the car because the new regulations are an opportunity for us,” Vasseur said.
“At least I consider the new regulations an opportunity, and we have to be fully focused on next year.
“So we will fully stop 2018 next week, but we are focused on 2019 [already] for months.”
Fred says that they have every reason to remain positive about this season and that they will have the capacity and motivation to continue to compete but the gains that could be made with their new technical director, Simone Resta from Ferrari, will be a very big chance to make gains given the regulation changes.
It’s a tough call and it isn’t the first time a team has changed their focus toward next year’s car this early in the season but that’s usually when things aren’t going well at all and that isn’t the case for Sauber. The team are clearly punching above their weight with the new Ferrari engine and battling in amongst the top 10 which is a battleground they haven’t seen in years.
Hat Tip: Autosport
This is probably way later in the season than usual for Sauber.
It will be interesting to see how competitive they remain to Renault, Haas, Force India and the rest of the mid pack. It’s likely that apart from Renault, all those teams will also have had to stop development of the 2018, because the 2019 changes are another major (expensive) change