Sauber plans to increase its workforce by almost 100 personnel as it bids to haul itself back into the Formula 1 midfield in 2018, according to team principal Fred Vasseur.
Vasseur is in the process of overhauling the team, having taken over from Monisha Kaltenborn, and is turning his attention to the staff numbers after securing the latest spec engine from Ferrari for 2018.
The Swiss team’s current staff stands at around 320, one of the smallest on the grid, but Vasseur hopes to boost that by around 100 by strengthening all departments, particularly aerodynamics.
“The number we are is too small,” he said. “We have to grow up, we have to grow up in each department, mainly in aero.
“More or less, that [400] will be the target.”
Vasseur hinted the recruitment could happen reasonably quickly and used former team Renault, where he spent a year as team boss, as an example.
“When I joined Renault last year, we were at 470 and I left at 600,” he said.
But he stressed that it was not just a case of boosting numbers, but rather finding the right people.
“We have to take the guys at a good place and in a good position,” he said. “If you increase the headcount you have to increase the budget but that was not the most difficult part of this.
“You have to find the right guys, you have to identify the position.
“To take guys that you want to make numbers. That would be the worse case. It would be better to stay at 320 than to take guys like this.”
Traditionally, Sauber has found it tricky to recruit staff given its base is in Switzerland while the majority of F1 teams are in the UK, but Vasseur is not daunted by the challenge.
“There are advantages and disadvantages [of being based in Switzerland],” he said. “When you’re in the UK, it’s easy to move from one team to another one.
“On the other end, in all areas, we’ll have some guys coming from Germany, looking for a position.
“I moved to Switzerland and I really appreciate the move.”