With the partnership between the Sauber F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari set to increase in 2018, Frederic Vasseur is weighing up the options to just how deep the technical relationship will go for his Swiss outfit.
Sauber will run with up-to-date Ferrari power units in 2018 after being restricted to year-old power units in 2017 that has left the Hinwil-based squad languishing at the bottom of the championship standings with only five points.
The alliance will also see them use Ferrari gearboxes, while Team Principal Vasseur is also in discussions with the Maranello-based outfit to see where else the two parties can collaborate, and the Frenchman feels Sauber utilising non-listed items would make the team a more competitive entity faster than they would developing them in-house.
“It would be a huge support to Sauber to have this kind of partnership with Ferrari,” said Vasseur to Motorsport.com. “It would be the fastest way to improve because it’s a huge step in three months.
“It’s a good way to improve quickly and come back onto the pace and catch the midfield, and then we can see what will be the next step.
“First we need to think about the close future, next year. On the other hand, you need to keep in house the skills and the technology and the know-how and I don’t want to give up on this.
“I don’t want to just wait just for Ferrari to have the next step of the evolution of the car. It would make no sense. We have a very good facility, the wind tunnel is a good one, we have to manage that asset and push that asset. We have to find the right balance.”
