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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Daniel Moxon

Sauber founder gives coy response when asked about next Alfa Romeo team principal

Peter Sauber gave a coy response when asked about who might fill the Alfa Romeo vacancy left by outgoing team principal Frederic Vasseur.

The Frenchman leaves his post this winter to join Ferrari in the same capacity. At Maranello he replaces Mattia Binotto, who resigned at the end of the season after a season in which the team's title challenge fell flat.

It was one of several team boss moves announced within a hectic 24-hour period. Jost Capito was the first to go and, after Williams announced that news, Ferrari made official their Vasseur swoop and Alfa Romeo confirmed the capture of Andreas Seidl as their new chief executive.

McLaren acted swiftly to promote Andrea Stella to replace their departed team principal, but Alfa Romeo are yet to reveal their new team leader. Sauber, who founded the eponymous parent company of the team, was asked about the situation in a new interview.

But the 79-year-old was not prepared to give too much away, telling Swiss outlet Blick that he would be providing "no names" for fans to speculate over. He simply said of the vacancy: "A sensible solution will be found there."

On the capture of the highly-rated Seidl, he added: "I am convinced that it is a very good solution for Hinwil, because the tasks that await everyone are very demanding. Like the fans, I'm now excited to see how Seidl will help the team in Hinwil after our four years together at BMW-Sauber and with his later track record from the Porsche and McLaren days."

Frederic Vasseur's departure to Ferrari leaves Alfa Romeo needing a new team principal (PA)

Sauber also paid credit to McLaren chief executive Zak Brown, who allowed the move to progress much more quickly by waiving the period of gardening leave – often used in F1 when senior figures swap one team for another – that Seidl might have had to serve before making the switch.

The Swiss said: "I was just happy that an agreement could be reached earlier with the very experienced Seidl. Luckily, despite the current contract, Brown doesn't believe in a months-long work ban."

And Sauber did not want to miss out on paying tribute to the outgoing team principal, as he continued: "But we shouldn’t forget to thank Vasseur. He took over the team around six years ago in a difficult situation. Now he goes with a sixth world championship place. That's great."

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