Sauber - can they be fixed?
Discussion
So Sauber are in trouble, they have well documented financial issues, are the only team to have no points so far this year, and are skipping testing.
Considering they have at times seemed on the brink of a mighty breakthrough (the BMW days) they have fallen a long way and now Manor seem to be their main competion, but at least Manor seem to be racers, they have done deals to get Merc engines and Williams components and this season look closer than ever to the rest of the field and Wehrlein and Harayanto for that matter seem to be quite capable drivers.
So given that scenario, if you were handed the top job at Sauber tomorrow, how would you fix it? Or is it now too late? Will they wind up the team at the end of 2016.
Personally I think I'd be trying to strike a deal with one of the top teams to be their 'buddy team' so in exchange for engines and some technical assistance I'd put a driver of their choice in one of my cars or maybe even both. McLaren would seem like a good choice because they have no such partner at the moment and seem to be slowly coming good, they have a history of getting back to the top even after time in the wilderness (think 1993 - 1995) and I reckon they might surprise some people with the new regs in 2017, they also have a need for some young drivers to be 'blooded' so they can evaluate them for when Alonso/Button eventually leave. Honda are no fools either and will continue to make progress in the future.
This partnership and association would then make the team more attractive to potential sponsors or maybe even a potential buyer of the team to raise some much needed cash and hire some key personnel and improve the technical side of things.
Maybe a strategy is being worked on, but Sauber look rudderless to me at the moment and just seem to lurch from crisis to crisis with no real sign of recovery and they seem to just be showing up rather than racing. Something has to be done or they won't be on the grid soon.
Considering they have at times seemed on the brink of a mighty breakthrough (the BMW days) they have fallen a long way and now Manor seem to be their main competion, but at least Manor seem to be racers, they have done deals to get Merc engines and Williams components and this season look closer than ever to the rest of the field and Wehrlein and Harayanto for that matter seem to be quite capable drivers.
So given that scenario, if you were handed the top job at Sauber tomorrow, how would you fix it? Or is it now too late? Will they wind up the team at the end of 2016.
Personally I think I'd be trying to strike a deal with one of the top teams to be their 'buddy team' so in exchange for engines and some technical assistance I'd put a driver of their choice in one of my cars or maybe even both. McLaren would seem like a good choice because they have no such partner at the moment and seem to be slowly coming good, they have a history of getting back to the top even after time in the wilderness (think 1993 - 1995) and I reckon they might surprise some people with the new regs in 2017, they also have a need for some young drivers to be 'blooded' so they can evaluate them for when Alonso/Button eventually leave. Honda are no fools either and will continue to make progress in the future.
This partnership and association would then make the team more attractive to potential sponsors or maybe even a potential buyer of the team to raise some much needed cash and hire some key personnel and improve the technical side of things.
Maybe a strategy is being worked on, but Sauber look rudderless to me at the moment and just seem to lurch from crisis to crisis with no real sign of recovery and they seem to just be showing up rather than racing. Something has to be done or they won't be on the grid soon.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/125286...
There we go...problem solved
hopefully they can move up from here.
There we go...problem solved
hopefully they can move up from here.http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/125349...
When your driver wants to wait and see about your new financial backer you know things are tough
When your driver wants to wait and see about your new financial backer you know things are tough
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