Key: Sauber still has its chin up

Date published : 11 Apr 2010 - 07:47:50

Sauber's new technical director James Key says the team remains in good spirits and determined to get back on the pace despite its awful start to the season.Former Force India man Key has joined Sauber in place of the retiring Willy Rampf, the long-time head of the team's technical arm.Sauber was tipped as this season's star underdog after drivers Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi flew in winter testing, despite the team's preparations having been disrupted by BMW's pull-out and the abortive Qadbak buy-out, before Peter Sauber stepped in to rescue the team he founded.But the car has remained in the midfield so far, and has also suffered from poor reliability, with Kobayashi retiring from every race and de la Rosa finishing just once.Key makes his first appearance in the paddock with Sauber at Shanghai next weekend, having recently started work at the team's factory.He said he had been encouraged by the attitude at Sauber even though the team is not where it wants to be on track."I arrived in Hinwil after the Easter weekend and met a lot of people," Key said."I got a very good impression of what's going on."There is obviously work to be done, but the spirit within the team and the motivation are very high."Key reckons Sauber already knows how to rectify its problems."What is now beginning to emerge is the direction we need to go in," he said."Everyone is pushing very hard, and we are making plans at the moment on the direction we should go in the future to keep developing."He expects the Chinese Grand Prix weekend to be a huge learning experience for him as he settles into his new squad."I'm looking forward to the first race with the team," said Key."I haven't been to the track this year, so it's going to be interesting to see how things are run, learn a bit about the tyres and talk to the drivers."It will be the first time I see the C29, so it will be good to have a close look at it along with Willy Rampf and go through it in detail."