Sauber team boss Fred Vasseur says departure from the Swiss outfit of its technical director Jorg Zander was an "awkward' affair linked to a personal problem.
Sauber announced Zander's firing with immediate effect out of the blue last Wednesday, with a reshuffling of its internal organization to be announced sometime in the future.
According to reports form Swiss paper Blick, Zanders departure from Hinwil was the result of several personal incidents involving the German and his apparent abuse of alcohol.
"We had to part in a rather awkward situation," team boss Vasseur admitted.
"But now we have to look forward, as we are already starting to develop the car for 2019. We must also prepare for the race in Barcelona, so let's see how we perform there," he added.
Zander had joined Sauber at the end of 2016, after leading Audi's WEC tech department.
In the past, the 54-year-old engineer also worked in F1 for BMW, Williams, Honda and Brawn Grand Prix in 2009, the year of the team's world championship title.
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
Sebastian Vettel will pay a fitting tribute to the great Ayrton Senna later this month…
The bets are on about Adrian Newey’s next move following Wednesday’s confirmation of his departure…
As announced by the Scuderia last week, Ferrari is embracing a splash of blue for…
Guenther Steiner, the former team principal of Haas F1, has initiated legal action against the…
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton – supported by team partner WhatsApp – staged a spectacular takeover…
Red Bull team principal Christian paid a heartfelt tribute to legendary designer Adrian Newey who…