The relationship between Scuderia Ferrari and the Sauber F1 Team will be completely different to that of Ferrari and the Haas F1 Team, according to Frederic Vasseur.
Sauber recently decided to backtrack on its decision to switch to Honda power, deciding to remain with Ferrari, but with their president Sergio Marchionne suggesting that the Swiss outfit could become a junior team for the Scuderia, with both Charles Leclerc and Antonio Giovinazzi being linked to drives for the 2018 season.
The Haas partnership sees Ferrari supply much more than just the engine and gearbox package that Sauber will use, but Vasseur, Sauber’s Team Principal insists that they do not want or need to become a B-team or a customer team, and they can develop the rest of their car in their excellent facility at Hinwil.
“I am not considering at all Haas,” said Vasseur. “They have their own collaboration with Ferrari and I have mine. I don’t want to compare or to say, okay, Haas are doing it like this. It is not my issue at all.
“But we have to develop our own project with Ferrari. Our basic collaboration is based on the engine and the gearbox and we could extend to some other parts: but to be honest it is not so easy to take some parts from one car to another one.
“I think the best compromise for us will be to be supported by Ferrari, but on the other hand I think we have a very strong facility, which is not the case for Haas.
“We have probably one of the best wind tunnels on the market and we have also to use our assets. At one stage we have to find the best compromise for the collaboration but I want to keep the lid on the development. I don’t want to be just a B-team or a customer team.”
