£700m F1 team’s technical director ‘struggling’ with 2024 updates

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Although every team will have the 2026 regulations in the back of their minds, it doesn’t appear as though anyone is slowing down when it comes to the development of their current cars.

McLaren have proved over the last 12 months that it’s possible to go from the back of the grid to challenging for race wins.

Mercedes in recent races have also taken a step forward and Red Bull are suddenly under pressure with Sergio Perez suffering from a real slump in form.

However, several teams have struggled with implementing their updates.

Ferrari brought a big upgrade to the Spanish Grand Prix but had to revert to some of their old parts at Silverstone such was the issue they had with the car bouncing.

Aston Martin have struggled to maximise any of the updates they’ve added to the car since the middle of last season.

Fernando Alonso has gone from regularly challenging for podiums to turning up at each circuit wondering whether he’ll be in the points.

A report from the Swiss outlet Blick has outlined how another team are in a lot of trouble with their car right now.

Although RB have also had their difficulties, no one has struggled more during the 2024 season than Sauber.

Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu have both failed to score a point and neither driver looks close to breaking into the top ten.

It now appears as though technical director James Key might be having some difficulties finding the optimum way to improve the C44.

The £700m-valued team, as per Forbes, are in a very tricky position ahead of the upcoming takeover by Audi.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber from team principal to Audi future

Sauber struggling with their upgrades after a horror start to the 2024 F1 season

James Key joined Alfa Romeo last year before their rebrand over the winter to become Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber.

The British engineer has previously worked for Jordan, Midland, Force India, Toro Rosso and McLaren and is now in his second spell with Sauber.

Audi have been working on building up their workforce before they join the grid in 2026 with Key reunited with Andreas Seidl after they worked together previously at McLaren.

The pair have since seen McLaren go from strength to strength since their departure although it would be harsh to pin that upturn on Key and Seidl moving on.

The report from Blick is scathing when it comes to Sauber’s current predicament, suggesting that parts are missing and Key is ‘struggling’ with the car’s upgrades.

Key has been told that he needs to make sure that Sauber doesn’t ‘sink even further into insignificance’.

Construction of Audi’s first F1 car can only begin on 1January 2025, although work on their power unit has already started.

That means improvements to the C44 can still be made between now and the end of the season.

Sauber’s struggles having an impact in the driver market

The only positive for Sauber at the moment is that they’ve already got one driver signed up for 2025.

Nico Hulkenberg is in sensational form and will be departing Haas at the end of the year to join Sauber ahead of Audi’s arrival on the grid.

However, Sauber are struggling to finalise a teammate for the German.

Two drivers are said to have ended talks with Sauber as they pursue other options on the grid.

Bottas and Zhou don’t seem to be in Sauber’s thinking although Seidl is monitoring the progress of both drivers.

Sauber are also considering a couple of rookies but that just shows how unappealing the team currently is that the newest works team on the grid might not be able to attract a more experienced driver.