Up and down the F1 pitlane, the finest engineering minds are fully focused on solving the challenges of the forthcoming shift to an entirely new car and drivetrain package for 2026. Given McLaren’s dominance so far this year, many could be forgiven for declaring this a “stop the count” moment and disregarding the 10 remaining rounds of 2025 entirely.
That’s not how Sauber plans to transact the next four months, even though its immediate future involves a transition to a new identity as Audi. A new floor geometry added earlier this year unlocked some unexpected development avenues, which it intends to exploit.
And while the factory’s engineering focus has shifted to the 2026 package, from an operational standpoint Sauber has plenty of development runway, according to team principal Jonathan Wheatley.
“We haven't given up on 2025 yet,” said Wheatley, speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com.
“For us, it's about strength and depth in terms of our operation. So using this momentum that we've gained over the last few months, continuing getting stronger and stronger in terms of our trackside operations, our factory operations.
“And, you know, people talk about continuous improvement, of course, in every single area, we need to just be continually pushing the boundaries. And we need to be adding strength in depth in the organisation.
“We need to be empowering the people, because this is where our shortcut to our ambitious journey is, it's in creating the right culture and creating a working environment where these people are all adding positively to the contribution of the team. So that's very much the goal.”
