Sauber plan ‘big ticket’ upgrades this year ahead of crucial 2025 season

Sauber technical director James Key says they aim to introduce “several” major upgrade packages through the upcoming season.

Key has returned to the Swiss team as technical director for the first time since 2012 after being released from the same position at McLaren following their disappointing start to the 2023 season.

Arriving back at Sauber, Key says the team has notably grown in his decade away from their Hinwil factory.

“It’s great to be back,” Key told media including RaceFans. “There’s a lot of familiar faces still around. A lot of the people I was lucky enough to work with last time I was at Sauber are still there so there’s a level of familiarity.

“The team’s grown. We’re still a small team, but nonetheless it’s still pretty big – many hundreds of people. It’s getting tight for parking spaces and office space – a normal problem when you hit that.

“I think in general some of that small team efficiency is still there, but inevitably as you grow as a team you begin to lose that. So pulling that back is one of the things that we do need to do a little bit more.”

The independent team is embarking on two years under an interim identity. It raced as Alfa Romeo for the last five years and has taken on the name of their sponsors Stake for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Then in 2026 it will become Audi’s factory team.

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Key says there is a clear pathway for Sauber to follow as they expand and enhance their technical department ahead of the arrival of Audi, which will produce a bespoke power unit for the new regulations coming in 2026. However he says it will take some time for the team to fully realise their intended growth.

“In terms of next steps, there’s a very significant, well-documented plan,” he said. “We’re already acting on it. Attracting all the right talent to the team, to join some very good talent that is already there, is obviously a priority that we’re working on hard in the background.

“There is a lead time to people [arriving] of course, with gardening periods, we were aware of that. We’re certainly not waiting for that. There’s a lot of stuff we can do now without any extra people and so on. For sure there’s things that the team can do with its current form better. But ultimately, to achieve our goals, we have to expand in all the key areas – in fact, in all areas. Everywhere has got to take a step up regardless of where we are in that process.

“I think ultimately we’re probably not going to be the final product that we’re aiming for until about 2027, really, because there is a lot to do. But we’ll be in far better shape as we approach 2026, and that will give us the opportunity to take a step forward we need to.”

As with all teams, Sauber are constrained by the budget cap which limits how much the team is allowed to spend each year. However, Key says the team’s freedom to invest in improving their car development facilities – permitted under the ‘capital expenditure’ allowance – will help them to close the gap to the bigger teams ahead of Audi’s arrival.

“The team has spent very wisely with the CapEx it’s had,” Key explained. “I have to say the ownership that we’ve currently got with the shareholders is very stable, supporting the team extremely well.

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“Some really important investments have been made this year which will begin to make a difference coming into [2024]. So there’s some of that in place, but there’s still plenty more to go. I think all the basics are definitely there, which is why I think there’s potential to do better immediately.

“But there’s some of the big stuff we’re definitely missing a bit too. I think the future CapEx will fill those gaps with more state-of-the-art key facilities, investment in existing facilities that we’ve got which already good as a baseline wind tunnel is legendary at Sauber, but there’s work to do in terms of the technology, for example. So I think all of those things will be direct performance gains compared to where we are now. And a lot of it’s catching up, to be honest with you.”

After a disappointing start to the year in 2024, Key’s former team at McLaren introduced multiple major upgrades through the season to move to the front of the field and become regular podium contenders. Heading into the new season in 2024, Key expects that Sauber will introduce multiple major upgrades themselves over the coming year as they look to ramp up development processes ahead of 2026.

“We’ve got a pretty clear plan,” he said. “Several possibly big-ticket development items that I think we need to try and get onto the car during the 2024 season, so we’ve got that going on.”

Making an early start on their first Audi-powered car for the new regulations in 2026 isn’t an option this year, as the rules forbid that. But Key said the team must be ready to advance that project come next year: “’25 is going to be a critical period for ’26.”

“That lead time of people, as we said, and all the other plans are in place but need detailing in some cases. Then [it’s] making an early start on certain things as soon as we can.”

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