Team principal Fred Vasseur has suggested the Sauber's future may not be as a privateer but instead becoming the full works team of new partner Alfa Romeo.
The Italian company is making their return to Formula 1 after 33 years, becoming title sponsor to the Swiss outfit and forging a technical alliance as part of a new deal with engine supplier Ferrari.
But Vasseur insists Sauber is not becoming a junior team to the Scuderia, despite taking on Academy member and F2 champion Charles Leclerc, with the Alfa project its own separate entity despite both brands coming under the Fiat umbrella.
"The company's executives want to see a fully fledged Alfa Romeo team," the Frenchman told Auto Hebdo. "At this moment in time we are using Ferrari engines, but our goal is not to be a subsidiary of, but the main Alfa Romeo team."
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The Sauber boss also sees becoming a manufacturer team as the best route forward for the Hinwil operation both from a business and sporting perspective.
"Personally, I do not see how a private team can survive in F1," Vasseur claimed. "Private teams can have a couple of great seasons, like Force India at present, but with the slightest hint of a crisis, the whole outfit can collapse.
"Thanks to the cooperation with Alfa Romeo, our team is on a stable course," he added.
