Valtteri Bottas praises ‘really motivated’ new Sauber boss Andreas Seidl
Valtteri Bottas is impressed with Sauber's new CEO, Andreas Seidl, and feels the German has a 'pretty clear direction' for the team's future.
Valtteri Bottas (L) } Andreas Seidl (R)
Sauber is undergoing and will undergo, a raft of changes in preparation for Audi’s ‘arrival’ in 2026. One of these has been the appointment of Andreas Seidl as the CEO, ‘replacing’ Frederic Vasseur who was serving as both the CEO and team principal. It’s not a like-for-like replacement, however, and it’s mostly Alessandro Alunni Bravi who will serve as ‘team representative’ in the absence of a classic team principal role. At the same time, the organization itself will continue to expand in size.
Last season, Alfa Romeo-Sauber were P6. Audi want to compete at the front – so the team needs to grow and the results need to improve. Quickly. It’s a big responsibility, but one that Seidl, with his large amount of experience, seems to be well-equipped for. Before his stint with McLaren, he was the team principal of Porsche’s LMP1 program, so he does have experience working with a big OEM.
It’s barely been a month since he’s started at Alfa Romeo-Sauber, but the drivers are already impressed with him. As per Autosport.com, the team’s current ‘main man’, Valtteri Bottas said about Seidl’s appointment: “It was two weeks ago I met him for the first time. First of all, a nice guy, but I can see that he’s really motivated. He seems to have pretty clear direction, what to do with the team and how to motivate people. He seems to have the vision.”
Moreover, Bottas is confident that Seidl is a ‘good man’ for the role of Sauber’s CEO: “Obviously he’s still just taking in a lot of information and trying to learn from other people about the team, what’s been happening in the past. I’m confident he is a good man for the role.”
Read More: Valtteri Bottas’ assured of Audi-Sauber’s potential to challenge the top teams
Zhou Guanyu looking forward to working with Andreas Seidl
Zhou Guanyu, who will compete in his second season as a Formula 1 driver in 2023, has spent ‘a lot of time’ with Andreas Seidl, and through this time, he felt how much the German was trying to ‘push’ the team to do better. At the same time, Zhou acknowledged it will take some time for Seidl to truly get up to speed and get used to his new work environment at Sauber.
Zhou said of Seidl: “But then I really see he’s very eager to bring the team up and to have a great future coming together. Spending dinner or lunch together, I really felt he’s a guy that knows quite well the technical side. He also knows well the drivers, because we’ve been speaking about his past.” the Chinese driver also feels that while this may be a big change for the team – it ‘doesn’t change much’ for the drivers. Instead, it’s about trying to understand each other’s work process.
Zhou also revealed that he heard ‘great words’ about Seidl from Oscar Piastri, who will make his McLaren debut in 2023. The German was instrumental in bringing Piastri to McLaren, and while he has now left them, it’ll still be acknowledged as a great move – if the Australian can deliver. For Seidl, the focus will be on preparing his team for 2026 and improving the results.
In case you missed it:
- “I am looking forward to repaying their trust with my work,” Andreas Seidl becomes CEO of Sauber Group after leaving McLaren F1 team
- The planned Audi-Sauber expansions in preparation for 2026 and future ambitions
Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)