Photo: Alfa Romeo F1 team
Back in January Andreas Seidl has been nominated the CEO of the Sauber Group after a shock departure from McLaren.
“Coming here felt very natural straight away”, has said the German about returning to Hinwill, where he has already worked at the beginning of his career for four years.
After occupying the role of team principal at McLaren in the last four F1 seasons, Seidl will be at the helm of the entire Swiss facility as CEO and will lead the company in the transition period that will lead to the passage of control from the current owner Finn Rausing to Audi, which has selected the Sauber Group as their strategic partner for entering F1 in 2026.
It’s been just six weeks since he has slotted into the new role, but Seidl’s vision for the Sauber Group it is already clearly delineated:
“Every area of the group is growing, and we want to continue that trajectory in the short, medium and long term. The team has shown its capabilities through continuous growth and sporting success over the years, both on-track and off-track.
“Our vision in Hinwil for the future is clear: we want to keep moving forward and ultimately become a team which is able to fight for podiums and race wins. We want to become a desirable team, where people want to be – employees, drivers and partners. We want to become a team which fans want to follow. My focus, together with the team, is to work out, implement and execute a clear plan of how we get there.”
His main focus at the moment is definitely to get to know as many people as possible, to build relationships and to understand how the team works in order to understand where the strengths and weaknesses in the organisation are and where the gaps to teams currently running in front of them are located.
Compared to his past as a Team Principal, now Seidl’s role will be marginal in the trackside operation and is fully focused at the factory, having full confidence in the team. However, given his previous experience, this will not exclude his contribute.
“I want my leadership team to run things on a daily basis. They are a strong group of people, whom I trust, and I will empower them and give them everything they need. I will attend a few races, but the foundations of success in F1 are laid at the factory and that’s where my immediate focus will be.”
The CEO will get to work with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu for the first time.
“Valtteri’s experience and race-winning knowledge are great assets for us which, combined with his focus and commitment, will help us to further develop as a team. But he’s also a fun guy to be around.
“Zhou complements Valtteri well. I like a mix of youth and experience in a driver line-up, and Zhou proved last year that he deserves his place in Formula 1. He showed continuous improvement. F1 is such a big step up from anything that drivers have experienced in the junior formulas and Zhou is used to this environment now. I am looking forward to seeing the next step from his side going into his second F1 season with us.”
