Sauber signs former Ferrari race strategist Rueda in latest management shake-up

Sauber has signed former Ferrari Formula 1 head of race strategy and sporting director Ignacio Rueda as part of its latest management changes.

The Spaniard will take over the sporting director role from long-time Sauber head Beat Zehnder, who has been moved into a new position of director of signature programs and operation in 2025.

Zehnder, an ever-present part of Sauber since it joined the F1 grid, will be part of “a supervising function to assure the best possible transition as the team grows into its new structures”, according to a team statement, as the Swiss squad prepares to transform into its Audi guise in 2026.

Rueda, who worked under new Sauber boss Mattia Binotto at Ferrari, held the same role at the Scuderia between 2021-23 before leaving the team. The Spaniard rose through the ranks at both Jordan and Renault/Lotus before joining Ferrari.

Meanwhile, Giampaolo Dall’Ara returns to Sauber having left the team in early 2016, and has been appointed in a newly created role of head of racing engineering. The Italian will oversee the race engineering department at both its Hinwil base and trackside underneath Binotto, in order to “optimise alignment on all car performance-related topics”.

Giampaolo Dall'Ara, head of track engineering, Sauber F1 Team

Dall’Ara joined Sauber in 2000 and became head of engineering at the Swiss squad between 2009-2015, before leaving to work in the DTM and run his own consultancy firm since 2016.

The latest hirings follow a management overhaul at Sauber in the summer, with former Ferrari boss Binotto installed as chief operating and chief technical officer, while both CEO Andreas Seidl and chairman Oliver Hoffmann left the team.

Jonathan Wheatley will also join as new Sauber team principal midway through the 2025 season, having been poached from Red Bull in the summer.

Sauber has also hired Stefan Strahnz from Mercedes for the new position of programme director.

“These leadership changes infuse the team with renewed confidence as they strengthen the organisation as it prepares for future challenges and opportunities, with a bright future as a factory team ahead,” the Sauber statement concluded.

Sauber is currently enduring a nightmare 2024 F1 season, sitting at the bottom of the world constructors’ championship, having failed to score a single point so far this campaign.

The Swiss squad is yet to announce who will drive alongside Nico Hulkenberg from 2025, having missed out on primary target Carlos Sainz who has opted to join Williams instead.