Sauber team boss Fred Vasseur has identified a top six finish in the Constructors’ Championship as their target for 2019.
The Swiss outfit was one of the most improved on the grid last season as a combination of a new partnership with Alfa Romeo, including closer Ferrari ties, and the arrival of Charles Leclerc saw them score their highest points total since 2015.
Now, the mission is to sustain and build on that build progress and Vasseur revealed the effort going on at Hinwil to achieve that.
“We pushed like hell on this year’s car,” he told Autosport. “We switched all resources of the company quite early.
“We have good expectations but when you have a change like this in the regulations it’s a drastic one. You never know.
“You can take the wrong direction and we will understand this perhaps [only at testing] in Barcelona because nobody knows exactly what the others are doing.”
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Even so, the Frenchman has confidence in Sauber’s ability adding: “My feeling is very positive, that we are still improving week after week and with the same purpose we had [in 2018].
“I don’t know if the others are doing a better job or not, but we are doing a good job.”
Such is the potential that Sauber has shown, it attracted Kimi Raikkonen to return to where his career began in 2001 after being replaced by Leclerc at Ferrari.
The ‘Iceman’ will team up with Antonio Giovinazzi, who also has a point to prove in a partnership that could be pretty strong in the midfield.
“I don’t want to say I don’t care but it won’t change my view on the season,” said Vasseur about making predictions for 2019.
“We were fighting towards the top 10, and in terms of teams between P4 and P6 [in the Constructors’ Championship]. We have to do at least the same [in 2019]. It will be the target.”
Putting that into perspective, Sauber finished eighth in last year’s standings.
