When former Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto accepted the calling to head up Audi's Formula 1 operations earlier this year, he knew it was going to be a tough task.
It is one thing honing an established team as he did at Maranello into fighting for world championship glory; it is quite another building something up from the back of the grid.
But even he admits that the Audi challenge has been greater than originally anticipated, as the reality hit home of a team struggling to score points and without a proper strategy in place to move itself forward.
"When I came in there was not only zero points, but really even no plans nor developments," Audi's COO and CTO tells Motorsport.com in an exclusive interview. "And that's what concerned me the most.
"Everything was only focused on '26, but that was for me somehow a problem because I think that a team needs always to fight on track.
"It's only by fighting, competing on track, that you can understand how good you're doing and if whatever you're doing is going the right direction.
"You need to understand performance. You need to understand weaknesses and strengths, and you need as well to address them. And that's the real know-how of a team."
From Binotto's perspective, the previous management, initially led by Andreas Seidl but then joined by Oliver Hoffmann, was too focused on the longer term picture at the expense of what was happening right now.
It is what triggered Sauber's fall down the order and also impacted the mindset of the team where it did not really have a clearly defined strategy of what it should be doing today.
"When I joined in August, really, it was like a team that was almost frozen," added Binotto.
"So while making sure that we had the proper plans in our journey to become a top team in the future, we really needed to boost the team for improvement and possibly already during the current season.
"How important the current season was was not only about not finishing with zero points, because finishing 10th with zero or 10th with four points does not change much.
"But it was more for us to make sure that we have defined the proper direction of development for next season as well – and being energized through the wintertime.
"Today, I can see a team that is more convinced on what's required, what's necessary for next season, and hopefully we can further develop the current car."
Making the changes
Binotto spent his first weeks in charge doing a review of the state of the Hinwil operation and trying to get a better understanding of what was working and what was not.
And the conclusion was pretty swift: that its infrastructure needed ramping up, facilities needed improving and it had to get on a recruitment drive.
"I think that Sauber has been a team in the mindset of survival in the last 10 years, with no more investments and no real expenditure," he said. "So whatever you've got, you kept, but you never further developed.
"If I look at the wind tunnel itself. It's a great wind tunnel, still today, I think it's up to date in terms of facility and structure.
"But what has not been developed is the internal methodology of testing. And a good tunnel is not only having the proper flow into a tunnel; it's the way you measure your data and the aero performance characteristics.
"It's about measurements, it's about sensors, it's about acquisition of data. It's about the accuracy of the data. It's about correlation to the race track, and if anything, I think where we have been stuck is really in that methodology."
Binotto sees a similar lack with Sauber's simulation facilities, which he thinks are now critical to making a team competitive.
"So what's the level of correlation of our simulation today? It's not great enough," he admitted. "And how can I say it's not great enough? Because I've got certainly a benchmark in mind, and another team which I know very well.
"And why is it the CFD correlation or methodology is so important? Because you cannot today test everything to understand what's the fastest. You need first to screen it, you need to filter 1000 ideas and just bring the top ten to the wind tunnel.
"Having a proper simulation tool is the most important today. And it is again, where we are very behind."
On the personnel front, Binotto estimates that Sauber needs to expand numbers by around 350 – something which is not going to happen overnight.
"It is a lot of people. It's really a lot," he said. "So we believe that the number of people we need to grow to be comparable to a top team is 350. And that's not only engineering; it's manufacturing, financial, HR.
"But how can we hire 350 people from other countries who are F1 specialists? Almost impossible.
"That's why our strategy will be to invest mainly on very young graduate talents. The reason why is because I am pretty convinced that it is the best investment we can do for our future.
"The Audi journey is a long-term journey, and I'm pretty sure that in a couple of years, the young graduates today will give us our best return on investments."
Patience for success
While Audi may have originally signed up for F1 in 2022 with ambitions of being a contender from its official entry as a works team in 2026, the targets have been rowed back a bit.
Binotto is realistic about what still has to be put in place, and just how long it is going to take to get Audi to where it needs to be. And he does not think it will get there this decade.
"As you can imagine, just building, maybe a new facility, it takes three years to attract people, and good people. You need to offer them a good environment in which to work and to live.
"So maybe it's only in three years' time we can reach our objective of fighting for wins, and let me say the title by 2030. That's still very ambitious, very challenging. But that is how long it will take.
"So can we be successful next season? Not at all. Can we be in a couple of years? Not at all, because we will not have the people in place, we will not have the facilities in place and all the tools required.
"So what can be [the target] in the meantime? It's improving, improving each single season, as simple as that.
"You cannot simply wait until 2030 to be the best or being a benchmark. You need to go step by step, to climb the mountain to being in the top ranking.
"For us, it will be important, I think, next year, to do better than what has been 2024, and the following year as well."
Binotto has been shadowed at several races this year by Audi CEO Gernot Doellner, who has been well briefed – and understands – that the challenges ahead are greater than originally anticipated.
The pair worked together on securing recent investment from Qatar and are in alignment about the timeframe needed for success – even if that means some difficult challenges ahead.
"It's managing always expectations," said Binotto. "But they [Audi] not only understand, but they also agree - which is the most important.
"But I know how difficult it is still managing expectations for the journey, because when we will have the Four Rings branding on the car, and if they are not fast enough, certainly, the pressure will rise."
What is most important to Binotto right now though is that as well as the support of a big-money manufacturer behind him (and some extra financial firepower from Qatar), there is at least a plan in place – something that was distinctly lacking before.
That does not mean that success will come any quicker, but at least it means a direction is there and the destination is agreed upon.
"It's a Northern Star. It's a clear vision. It's there," he said. "We know what we need to get there, and I often take climbing a mountain as a reference.
"We need to get to the top, and we are at the moment really trying to trace our way on how to find it. We know it could be long. We know that it will be even difficult, it will be exhausting.
"But if having the clear vision and managing the expectations is the most important today. Then it will be about having the right resources to do that.
"And I think the F1 project has assessed well how long it will take and how much it will require."
