James Key: Our UK office will open this year

      James Key, technical director of Sauber, spoke about the challenges facing the team this year, because in 2026 it will receive factory status and become an Audi F1 Team.

      James Key: "In general, we are coping with the test program, although work on the track is often interrupted due to weather conditions. It rains periodically – to be honest, heading to Bahrain, we did not expect this. We've lost some time because of this.

      Nevertheless, we managed to work quite productively this afternoon, which was extremely important for Gabriel Bortoleto, who is currently in the process of studying, because this is his first season in Formula 1.

      Last year, the team put a lot of effort into preparing for this season, and now we have already started preparing for 2026. In many ways, this period is a transitional one for our team. Among other things, the Sauber racing team has been updated – all this is being done in accordance with our plans for further development.

      In general, we can say that we have already prepared better for this season. But we will be able to assess our real position after the first few races. There are very serious changes going on in the team, and the uniqueness of the situation is that we have the current C45 car, but the 2026 chassis is being developed in parallel.

      I can say that about half of the team is currently engaged in team development and preparation for the future – a lot of work is being done, a British division is being created, because it would be very difficult to try to persuade all the specialists to move to Switzerland. Part of the team will work in Hinville, part in the UK.

      The team will only grow in the future, so now is a very interesting time, including because we are recruiting many new employees, and our UK office will open this year.

      Our new drivers, Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg, got along well and worked well together, they provide the team with quite stable feedback and evaluate the car's behavior in approximately the same way. I must say that Gabriel works very thoughtfully and with concentration, learns very quickly, and we really benefit from Niko's rich experience. I think we have a very good duo of drivers, and I'm looking forward to working with both of them this year."