More fallout from Audi/VW issues as Jorg Zander switches to Sauber F1 team

The fallout from the VW emissions scandal continues to have a significant ripple effect on motorsport as Audi's Jorg Zander has joined Sauber, following on from recent news that Audi is to quit Le Mans and WEC to focus on Formula E.

The VW group, of which Audi is part, is scaling down its spend on motorsport as it is forced to make greater provisions for the emissions scandal. Last week the company announced that VW will withdraw from the World Rally Championship, which leaves its world champion driver Sebastian Ogier looking for a 2017 drive.

Earlier this year, in anticipation of this, VW's long term motorsport director Jost Capito secured a new role as CEO of McLaren Racing, a post he finally took up after the summer break.

Zander has worked at Sauber before; he was chief designer in 2006 and 2007 when the team was BMW Sauber and competing t the front with Robert Kubica at the wheel. He was previously a Chief Engineer for the BAR-Honda F1 Team from 2002 to 2005 and as a Chief Designer for Williams in 2005 and 2006. He then had a spell as Deputy Technical Director at Honda Racing F1, which morphed into Brawn GP in 2009.

Zander joined Audi Sport in 2010, becoming Technical Director in 2015 with overall responsibility for the “Audi Sport Technik” department.

For Sauber it is another appointment that reverses the trend of the last few years of talented engineers leaving the team. With operations engineer Xevi Pujolar and strategist Ruth Buscombe joining since the take-over by Swiss money men Longbow Finance in July, the arrival of Zander provides more technical leadership.

The team has already committed to staying with the 2016 Ferrari power unit, around which the new 2017 car has been designed, whig team principal Monish Kaltenborn explained as prioritising the aerodynamic development and presumably cutting a reduced price deal for engines with Ferrari as a result,

"We know there is a big change coming up and with the size we have and the capacities we have, we needed to focus on that change" she explained in Austin.

"We didn’t want to wait for that long, whatever changes might come on the engine side or not. It’s clear that the engine supplier wants to develop as much as he can until the end of the possibilities, and we didn’t want to wait that long. We decided to work around what we know; we have sufficient information on that environment around the engine. So we can now focus totally on the chassis side and on performance development."

Zander referenced the 2017 technical regulation changes in the announcement of his appointment today

"The new Formula 1 regulations offer a great opportunity to point the way with innovations and technical creativity," he said. "One of my tasks will be to define a stable and efficient technical organisation that evolves the potential of creativity and, therefore, the basis for the development of successful Formula 1 cars.

"Initially we obviously want to improve and establish ourselves as a team in the mid-field. Overall it is a challenge which I await with excitement and enthusiasm.”

Sauber has clearly learned from its 2015 success in building a reliable car for the start of the season, which managed to score points early on and which set it up for the season. This year, with financial issues dogging the team over the winter, the team has been on the back foot and has yet to score a point. As Manor managed to score on in Austria, that puts Sauber in a potentially vulnerable position in terms of reduced prize money and FOM money