Sauber: It was right to rescue team

Peter Sauber has admitted to acting on his emotions, but insists that stepping into resurrect his eponymous Formula One team following BMW's exit was the right thing to do.

With three tough races under the squad's belt in 2010, Sauber was asked whether he still felt he had made the correct decision to take control after the proposed sale to Qadbak Investments fell through, and the enquiry gave the genial Swiss reason for reflection.

"When I decided to take over, I had to make the decision in a short period of time, [and] I was led purely by my gut feelings, which is something you should try to avoid," he told the official F1 website, "If it was a purely logical decision, you wouldn't have done it, but, in the end, I didn't have a choice because Hinwil would have been closed down."

Asked how easy it would have been to simply walk away from the team he had started nearly 30 years ago, he again returned to the need to protect the loyal servants at Hinwil.

"For a moment, let's imagine I had looked at the matter unemotionally," he reasoned, "In that case, I would have made the decision not to step in. It was too big a risk - [but] then Hinwil would have been closed down. It's hard to say how long the fact that I hadn't even tried to give the team a future would have made me feel uneasy. The decision to give it a try was the right one.

"When I sold the team to BMW years ago, it was 100 per cent the best solution for me, as I was able to close my F1 career in optimal conditions. I handed over the team to what I assumed were safe hands, and my career was perfect. What happened was a massive interruption to this. I have worked very hard during my life, and I was also blessed with luck - but I always knew that you should not test your luck and I truly hope that I'm not overstretching it now."

Despite having the experience of Pedro de la Rosa and the raw speed of rookie Kamui Kobayashi in the cockpit, Sauber is the only 'established' team yet to score in 2010, leaving it on a par with newcomers Virgin, Lotus and HRT even though its appeared to have a decent package in pre-season testing.

"I do not want to touch on the issue of the drivers as it would be inappropriate," the veteran team owner insisted, "I took this driver line-up decision - and the considerations that led to the decision are still valid. Pedro, on the one hand, has his immense experience from McLaren, and Kamui, on the other hand, is a young driver. What we probably underestimated is the time it would take for the drivers' familiarisation. Pedro, after many years as a test driver, is now back racing and that acclimatisation process is probably more challenging than we anticipated.

"I don't let matters get to me too much, if this is possible. It is better if you don't, because it is never good to look at things from a snap-shot perspective. I think we should at least wait until we get back to Europe to analyse the situation with regards to the team and the technical situation. You always have to be very careful about what you read into tests. Tests and races are two completely different things, especially if you are running with a new driver line-up who, at tests, can go about things in a calm manner without much pressure. Now we are under pressure to succeed and it is very difficult to adapt to this.

"Secondly, it is a sort of phenomenon, and I would call it the Sauber phenomenon. We've always performed well at tests, as the cars arrive at the first outing in a very good condition. They are both reliable and have good speed, but our competitors develop much faster and, by the first race, they are already introducing upgrades. We came to Bahrain with the car we had at the last test in Barcelona.

"There is another issue too - you run light at the tests and you race heavy. That's a major difference to previous years, [and] my guess is that the other teams were running a bit heavier than we did at the tests - five, ten or even 15 kilos heavier. If they really had 15 kilos more, that equates to almost half a second in lap time - and that explains the time gap. The fact is that we've been fast on long runs, so it's a bit difficult for us to really understand the situation now.

"I am convinced that the fact that both our drivers are new in the team plays a certain role. The communication and co-operation between the drivers and engineers at the moment is not where it ideally should be, [but] that is not a criticism, just a sort of diagnosis."

Admitting that the C29 would have been a disappointment to BMW had it continued racing in F1, and confirming that he did not expect to attract the sort of sponsorship to accelerate the development of the predominantly white-liveried car, Sauber is pinning his hopes for the remainder of the season on the new perspective brought by technical director James Key, who takes up the reins in Shanghai this weekend.

"I am convinced that James Key will be a stabilising factor, as we have not been very contented with the fact that Willy Rampf was looking for a change," he noted, "Even though he said that he would stay on until we found a replacement, it still means a certain amount of instability when the most important man in the team says that he wants to leave.

"There are other factors that should not be underestimated either. James took over at Hinwil on 1 April and, with a clear technical lead in place again, I'm sure that will massively push the team. Another issue that is no less important is that I have established a management team in Hinwil that is overseeing the day-to-day operations. I am not involved any more in the day-to-day business of the team and that helps a lot."

Having helped push Force India steadily up the grid in the last three seasons, Key is looking forward to helping transform the fortunes at Sauber.

"I arrived in Hinwil after the Easter weekend and met a lot of people, so I got a very good impression of what's going on," he revealed, "There is obviously work to be done, but the spirit within the team and the motivation are very high. What is now beginning to emerge is the direction we need to go in. Everyone is pushing very hard, and we are making plans at the moment on the direction we should go in the future to keep developing.

"I haven't been to the track this year, so it's going to be interesting to see how things are run, learn a bit about the tyres and talk to the drivers. It will be the first time I see the C29, so it will be good to have a close look at it along with Willy Rampf and go through it in detail.

"As for Shanghai, we have to see how the cars and the tyres deal with it. We hope for the best and will try to get some points."