Sauber starting 2018 design from scratch - Vasseur

Sauber is hard at work designing its 2018 contender which, according to team boss Fred Vasseur, will be 'completely different' to its current car.

The Hinwill-based team has endured a difficult season to date, marked by an underperforming C36 chassis powered by an equally lagging 2016-sepc Ferrari engine and a progressive drop way from the mid-field battle.

Sauber suffered a tumultuous campaign last year as the Swiss team fought for its survival, a state of affairs which heavily impacted the design of its 2017 car.

Frédéric Vasseur, who took over from former team principal Monisha Kaltenborn earlier this summer, is focusing his efforts on putting together a competitive package for next season,partly be leveraging the team's relationship with engine supplier Ferrari.

"The car is already in the windtunnel and I think we are doing a decent job," said Vasseur.

"We are still discussing the parameters of the Ferrari collaboration, but [the carry over will] probably be less than 20%.

"The current one [car] is 2016 so to try and carry over to 2018... we have to start from scratch.

"It's also the reason the car [has] long [been] in the windtunnel.  The global picture of the car will be completely different."

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Sauber's new design is the first to be spearheaded by technical director Jorg Zander who joined the team at the beginning of the year.

Vasseur isn't underestimating the job at hand but the Frenchman remains confident that a boosting of its workforce and the ability to extract the most of its resources will result longer term in a move up the field.

"It's always difficult to have a target because it will depend on the guys around us on the grid," he said.

"It will be difficult to come back into the midfield. It's a big step and there is no big change in the regulations for next year.

"All the other teams will have much better carryover than us.  For me, the biggest challenge will be to increase the size of the company, to increase the performance of each department.

"If we're able to do this, we will improve on the grid. The group in front of us is very close.

"I want to come back into the fight."

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