Sauber aiming to stay at 2009 level

Date published : 31 Jan 2010 - 16:32:31

Peter Sauber is hopeful of keeping his eponymous team at a similar level of competitiveness to last year, despite BMW's departure having had a big impact on both budget and staff numbers.The Hinwil-based squad officially marked the start of founder Sauber's second stint in charge of the squad by launching its new C29 car at Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit on Sunday.The Swiss veteran has returned to the position of team boss and owner following the decision of BMW to quit Formula 1 four years after buying the team from Sauber.The loss of financial backing from the German car giant has meant the team has had to reduce the headcount at its Hinwil base, while Sauber confirmed at the launch that the team's budget for chassis development was 40% down on last year's figure although much of this was down to F1's Resource Restriction Agreement.But while the team once again has to get used to operating a tight ship, Sauber believes it is possible to match last year's level of performance when, following a dismal start to the season, it ended the year as a consistent points scorer and claimed sixth place in the constructors' championship.We finished the season sixth last year and we've reduced the budget a lot now, he said in a press conference. We reduced the staff and the goal is to stay on a similar level to last year.It's necessary to be efficient of course.The C29 sported few sponsor logos at its unveiling but Sauber is confident more will come on board early on in the season, even if he admits securing backers has been a tough challenge.I hope we will see more, he said.I'm sure we will see more when we start in Bahrain, or later when we start in the European season.We had not a lot of time to look for sponsors.We started close to Christmas it was a very difficult time to find sponsors, especially big sponsors.Having thought he had secured his team's future when he sold it to BMW four years ago, 66-year-old Sauber said he felt he had a duty to step in to rescue the team, even though he personally hadn't wanted to make a return to F1 in such a major capacity.And while he admits he won't be back for the long term, he says he has no immediate plans to sell the team on once more adding that, unlike his first period in charge when he was building it up, this time the squad's infrastructure is already in place.It is not planned to stay for another five years, of course, he said.But at the moment it is not the idea to sell the team.It's not necessary to build up [the team again].I think the team has an excellent structure after these four years with BMW. We had a brilliant infrastructure and we have a very good management.And I'm not involved in the daily business.