Vasseur: 10th to 8th is easier than 8th to 6th or 6th to 4th

In 2017, Sauber finished last in the championship, scoring only five points the entire campaign, but last year with Frédéric Vasseur at the helm and serious commitment from the team's backers they went on to finish eighth in the championship with 48 points.

A remarkable turnaround considering how the team nearly collapsed during the Monisha Kaltenborn era. But timely title sponsorship from Alfa Romeo, a handy Ferrari power unit package and young Charles Leclerc hauling in the points proved to be a godsend for the Swiss outfit.

Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, Vasseur explained how he recovered the team, "It's the combination of many factors. First, we have the current Ferrari engine. This is a huge step forward compared to last year. In the engine performance and also in the motivation."

"We know that we have an excellent engine and therefore can compete at the same level as our rivals. We were also a much more attractive option for sponsors."

"Second, we had a strong driver pairing. Marcus Ericsson improved a lot. He worked hard on himself over the winter. Charles is the rookie of the year."

"Third, we added 40 people to our aerodynamics department and nominated a new boss, Jan Monchaux. Fourth, we are well on the way to restructuring our team. And finally, the partnership with Alfa Romeo helped us, not just with money. They make us more visible, attractive to partners and good to attract people we want to bring to the team. It gives the whole project a serious touch and ignited a new dynamic which has helped us progress."

Williams is an example of how a F1 superpower has fallen on hard times with no clue how to recover from the bog of ineptitude they fell into this past year, that Sauber recovered from one season to another as they did is quite remarkable for the relatively small organisation.

Vasseur expounded, "I did not want to stay in that state for four years like last year. And let's face it, moving from 10th to 8th is easier than going from 8th to 6th or 6th to 4th. I know that every next step gets harder."

"Nevertheless, we can be proud. We are now in the front end of the midfield, although we stopped the development of aerodynamics early in favour of 2019," revealed the team chief.

Sauber ended the season with a very strong run scoring more than half their points in the final six races of the season which helped them to eighth place in the constructors' standings with 49 points, only 14 shy of McLaren in sixth place, however 45 points down on fellow Ferrari customer team Haas.

Looking to the future, Vasseur said, "We focus on ourselves and do not look at Haas. We know that we still have weaknesses and are too small in some areas, such as production. It is important for us that we use our biggest asset which is our wind tunnel and we have to make the most of it."

"Therefore, we will always develop the outer elements of the car ourselves and also the things for which we need a lot of time in production. Ferrari can release many PU components late because they have a large production capacity. "

On the matter of Formula 1's future including the suggested budget caps to level the playing field, Vasseur said, "Honestly, I'm not worried about how much the cost cap will be. We're miles below that anyway. That's why I can upgrade the team without risk."

"Whatever is decided it will not affect our corporate philosophy. Being small and comparing myself to Force India is not such a bad thing, that creates a very special team spirit. It's easier to carry 400 people than 1,000."

Perhaps the biggest coup of the season, and possibly the team's history, was luring back Kimi Raikkonen to the team. The popular veteran is returning to the outfit that gave him his Formula 1 debut and launched the Finn into superstardom almost two decades ago.

Vasseur acknowledged, "We will have a strong driver line-up next year. Antonio [Giovinazzi] has shown in the Friday practice that he can provide good feedback from the car. Kimi will bring us the reference to a top team and a lot of experience. That's a strong combination."

"[Kimi] loves racing and he likes the atmosphere in our team. I'm sure he will feel comfortable in the small troop. The choice was between Räikkönen and Ericsson," divulged the team chief.

Raikkonen is a known quantity who will not only attract more attention to the team, he also has it in him - as victory at the United States Grand Prix proved - to take the team to the next level, in terms of speed and experience.

Giovinazzi, before Vasseur's appointment to team principal in July 2017, broke his F1 cherry when he subbed for injured Pascal Wehrlein in Australia and China last year.

The 24-year-old Italian's second F1 race in Shanghai was a disaster - crashing in qualy and the race. As a result, he dropped down Ferrari's young driver pecking order behind Charles Leclerc.

The Monaco Kid made the most of his rookie year and heads to Ferrari for his efforts. Now it's Giovinazzi's chance to prove what he has what it takes in the top flight with Raikkonen as his benchmark and with Vasseur at the helm to take the team to the next level and maintain the momentum he has built since he took over at Hinwill.