How Sauber’s UK hub might solve Audi’s F1 growth troubles

Sauber opening a technical centre for Audi’s coming Formula 1 entry appears to solve one big headache for the nascent project, while also drawing new parallels with rival squad, Haas.

The news that Sauber is now searching for premises on which to open its ‘Sauber Motorsport Technology Centre UK’ means it is primarily hoping to attract F1 staff based in the United Kingdom, while also concurrently freeing up resources to spend on car development.

This is because the team’s long-serving Hinwil base has proved to be problematic as Sauber expanded ahead of Audi’s arrival.

The much higher costs of living in Switzerland compared to the other countries home to the other F1 squads meant Sauber has struggled when it comes to bringing in new staff, as it seeks to transform from a perennial midfield squad to crack works operation along with its Audi rebrand from next year.

To ease this issue, the FIA has even granted a salary cap offset within the 2026 F1 cost cap to accommodate the situation.

The governing body felt Sauber/Audi might even end up with staffing levels 30-40% down on other large-scale teams due to salary level discrepancies.

Figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) show average wages in 2022 in Switzerland were around $80,000, versus $54,000 in the UK.

This is where seven of the 10 F1 squads are based, with thousands of experienced and highly-trained people living in ‘Motorsport Valley’ – the area estimated to be within an 80-minute drive of the Silverstone circuit where all the UK-based F1 teams are located.

And while some are inclined to regularly decry ‘British bias’ in the championship often as a result of the high numbers of paddock personnel coming from or living in the UK, Sauber outright indicated in its press release communicated on Tuesday that this factor cannot be ignored if it wants to achieve its desired expansion and improvements.

“By creating this new facility,” the statement reads, “Sauber Motorsport aims to strengthen its presence in ‘Motorsport Valley’ and establish a platform to collaborate with top experts and attract local engineering talent for the Audi F1 Project.”

The move is significant because it not only provides Sauber/Audi with more resource room if more of its staff do not need the higher Swiss wage levels, but it also signifies the lengths the organisation is willing to go to attract additional engineering talent.

It has already secured a new team principal in former Red Bull sporting manager Jonathan Wheatley, but given top earners at F1 squads are exempt from the cost cap this is all about expanding further down the chain to benefit the whole.

Here reveals the two new parallels between Sauber/Audi and Haas, which have been on-again, off-again midfield rivals over the last decade – before the former slipped down the pecking order in 2024 while the latter gained massively.

While RB is another team in a similar position of having its facilities split across countries given the recent Red Bull push to bind the Faenza-based squad closer with the rest of its f1 operations in the UK, Sauber/Audi is now seemingly set to join Haas in having staff based across three countries.

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24, Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-24

Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images

With Haas having its corporate headquarters in Kannapolis (the United States home of parent company Haas Automation), its main F1 facility in Banbury in the UK and its design office in Italy (Maranello at the Ferrari factory), Sauber/Audi already has its F1 engine development being conducted in Neuburg, Germany, as well as staffing the Swiss Hinwil factory and now the new UK office.

But this in itself provides a parallel with Haas and the lengths teams must go to in attracting employees.

As part of its plan to recover from its latest constructors’ position nadir in 2023, Haas enacted its first F1 recruitment drive last summer, as well as investing in a new team motorhome that is designed to grab the attention of rival squad staff in the paddock each race. Haas is also currently evaluating plans on whether to redevelop its cramped Banbury site or even move to a new location altogether.

Such changes were desired by former Haas boss Guenther Steiner, but getting the sign-off on such development was achieved by his successor, Ayao Komatsu. And yet, he admitted recently that the team’s staffing level remains only around “330 people” even with the recruitment phase being well over six months old.

“That’s nowhere in terms of what we [could be],” Komatsu added in a media briefing attended by Motorsport.com.

But, as is so often the case in F1, perception is critical to achieving goals.

The new Haas motorhome and potential factory changes will potentially ease its desire to have a larger F1 staff overall, as it tries to expand from its significantly lower headcount compared to other teams.

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber C44, kicks up sparks

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

But Haas is somewhat trapped by how much of its (lower) cost cap cash goes to funding the parts it buys from Ferrari and the designs it gets Dallara to manufacture.

Whereas, because it designs and builds so much more of its F1 car, Sauber/Audi would be able to more readily exploit the additional resources from its new facility creation.

It is also the second piece of good news that the troubled team has had since its massive management shake-up last summer, where ex-Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto was installed as overall project leader.

The first was the Qatari Investment Authority taking a 30% stake for a reported $350 million at a time when Audi’s parent company Volkswagen had profits hit and jobs axed.

Therefore, Tuesday’s news is a further sign that the F1 team is getting elements to make itself stronger amid such a tricky position, with a further boost coming from the performance gains Sauber/Audi made to the C44 with its big floor upgrade late in the 2024 season.