Sep.14 (GMM) After almost collapsing earlier this year, Sauber is now noticeably back on track.
That is the news of team driver Felipe Nasr, who had earlier appeared to almost lose patience with the Swiss outfit’s financial troubles.
With his significant backing by Banco do Brasil, the Brazilian is still tentatively linked with a move elsewhere for 2017.
But Nasr, 24, also seems happier with Sauber in the wake of the buyout by an investment group.
“It’s very positive to see that people are coming onto the team now,” he said, following reports of new staff joining Sauber, including the experienced engineer Xevi Pujolar.
“They are coming on important areas for the development of the car,” Nasr told UOL Esporte. “Straight away, they could already see the positives and negatives of our car and our procedures, which have a direct impact.
“For next year, the team is looking to strengthen with even more people, especially on the technical side, where we are somewhat limited,” Nasr continued.
“There are several key people who will join the team at the end of the year.”
He welcomed Pujolar in particular, whose most recent role was engineering the F1 sensation Max Verstappen.
“I liked his work,” Nasr said. “He is seeing how we work at the moment but I like the way he processes the information. He is very thorough and so far I have only seen very good things.”
He said Singapore this weekend will be a good assessment of recent car changes at Sauber.
“It is the first circuit at which we will use all of the aerodynamics of the new package, assessing how much it is still worth working on this car or whether it is better now to focus on next year,” said Nasr.