Barely arrived, Andreas Seidl changes the organization of Alfa Romeo

Party of McLaren In the 2022-23 offseason, Andreas Seidl took on the role of CEO of Sauber Group on January 9. The German engineer was quick to bring his vision to the Swiss company, as he explained this Tuesday, February 21.

“After my previous experience at Hinwil, coming here immediately seemed very natural to me and it's great to be back, declared the one who had worked at Sauber F1 Team as Director of Track Operations in the 2000s. There are a lot of familiar faces, as well as a lot of new faces, and I was warmly welcomed. I found a very motivated and ambitious team, full of talent; a team with good foundations, ready to take on the challenges and seize the opportunities that present themselves to us. »

Andreas Seidl, who replaced Frédéric Vasseur as CEO, explained that he would not attend all the Grands Prix in 2023, in order to guarantee the progress of the team ranked 6th among the Manufacturers in 2022.

“Formula 1 is the main focus of the Sauber group, so of course I will be involved and I want to bring my experience. But I want my management team to manage things on a day-to-day basis. This is a strong group of people that I trust, and I'm going to give them the means and everything they need.

I will attend a few races, but the foundations for success in F1 are laid at the factory and that is where I will concentrate. »

The team welcomed a new team representative in the person of Alessandro Alunni Bravi. “The most significant development compared to last year is the expansion of the role of Alessandro Alunni Bravi. He will continue to oversee the team's business and legal activities as general manager, as he has done in the past, and he will now be the public face of the team as a team representative. Together with Head of Engineering and Track Operations, Xevi Pujolar, and Sports Director, Beat Zehnder, he will form a strong management team on the track. »

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Finally, Andreas Seidl is satisfied with the complementarity reigning between the Finn Valtteri Bottas and the Chinese Guanyu-Zhou. “Valtteri's experience and racing knowledge are great assets for us which, combined with his focus and dedication, will help us progress. But he's also a nice guy to be around.

Zhou complements Valtteri well. I like to have a mix of youth and experience in a group of drivers, and Zhou proved last year that he deserves his place in Formula 1. He has shown continued improvement. F1 is a big step up from anything drivers have experienced in junior formula and Zhou is now used to that environment. I can't wait to see the next step he takes in his second F1 season with us. »