Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl feels "quite confident" that the team will be ready to take the Formula One grid as Audi from 2026.
In around two years, Sauber will become Audi's first full works F1 squad. They initially operated as Alfa Romeo and since this years as Kick Sauber, while using power united from long-time Italian partner Ferrari.
"If I look at the progress we are making on the development side, hitting all the milestones we have set ourselves, I feel quite confident we will be ready in 2026," Seidl told the F1 website in his first English language interview since taking the job to lead Audi.
"With our recent announcement of the 100% takeover of Sauber by Audi, we simply can accelerate now this transformation – from a private F1 team to a full works team. The mission here is now until 2026 to put the plan we have worked out in place as quickly as possible," he said.
To achieve this goal, Sauber signed current Haas driver Nico Hülkenberg from 2025 and the German will compete for Audi in 2026. The team is still looking for a second driver, but Seidl said he's in no rush.
"The driver market is difficult to predict at the moment. Having Nico nailed down, there is no specific rush to fix the second seat. We prefer to monitoring the performance of our drivers and the others we are looking – and then make the best decision," he stressed.
Seidl said they're in talks with current drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, but according to several media reports, departing Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz is the top favourite to take the job.
"We are out in the market, to have all options ready once we want to make a decision later in the year," the Sauber boss said.
The team is currently bottom of the constructors' championship, but Seidl doesn’t think it is as bad as it looks for his side.
He's confident that with the right team development and expansion his team can "quickly make strides towards the top-five teams."
"We certainly do not underestimate the task that is ahead of us as a team and we know that it will be a race against time to be as ready as possible in 2026.
"The transformation will also require a significant amount of change within the team, which needs to be implemented. Change in terms of our ways of working, our organisational setup, our culture. Change that will not always be comfortable and also be painful for one or the other step we have to take as a team," he said.
Asked about esteemed F1 designer Adrian Newey, who will leave Red Bull in 2025 after almost 20 years, Seidl said: "For sure every team in the paddock must be interested in having an icon like Adrian Newey on board, with everything he has achieved in the past."
But he stressed that the focus of their hiring campaign is not "on names," but it's about "finding the right people for the right positions who help us increase competitiveness and help us move forward."