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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.
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