Capito saddened by Sauber plight

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Incoming McLaren CEO Jost Capito says it is "sad to see" his former team Sauber struggling financially for so long.

Sauber's financial troubles were highlighted at the start of last season as the team faced legal action from Giedo van der Garde, while there has been little development on its car since that time. Capito - who will start as McLaren CEO at the end of August - previously worked for Sauber in F1 and he hopes his former team can secure its future.

"I think it’s sad to see them in the situation they are," Capito said. "I would really like to see them getting out of this and getting better again. For the opportunities and the things they have they are performing quite well. They have nice facilities and it would be a shame to lose that from Formula One."

However, Capito believes the situation needs to be put in perspective, saying Sauber's struggles are nothing new.

"I think it’s happened throughout Formula One history again and again. It’s not special for this time. When you have seen how many teams have come and gone, this is part of F1 too. Haas is coming in new this year and doing a really good job and other teams are disappearing – that is part of the sport."

Asked if the Haas collaboration model is therefore the future for small teams such as Sauber, Capito replied: "It depends on the regulations and what you can do and cannot.

"I think it’s right that F1 teams should be car manufactures. It should not become like a full satellite, Formula One is the pinnacle of the sport and at the pinnacle of the sport the teams should be the manufacturers of their cars."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.