Sauber is planning to hire 100 personnel and increase its workforce in a bid to return to the midfield for 2018 according to Frederic Vasseur.
After becoming the team principal of Sauber following the departure of Monisha Kaltenborn, Vasseur is in the process of reforming the team. This process of reform started when the Frenchman ditched Honda power for 2018 and negotaited a new deal with Ferrari to use up to date engines for next season.
Vasseur's next target is to increase the Swiss team's workforce by 100 new personnel, with its current 320 employees making it one of the smallest teams on the grid. These 100 new employees will be used to strengthen all departments of the squad, although most of the focus will be on the aerodynamic side of the team.
"The number we are is too small," he said. "We have to grow up, we have to grow up in each department, mainly in aero.
"More or less, that [400] will be the target."
Vasseur suggested that recruitment could happen quickly but stressed the importance of finding the right people, using Renault as an example: "When I joined Renault last year, we were at 470 and I left at 600," he said.
"We have to take the guys at a good place and in a good position. If you increase the headcount you have to increase the budget but that was not the most difficult part of this.
"You have to find the right guys, you have to identify the position.
"To take guys that you want to make numbers. That would be the worse case. It would be better to stay at 320 than to take guys like this."
As Sauber is based in Switzerland, it has often been difficult for the team to recruit staff, with the majority of Formula 1 teams being based in the UK. Despite this, Vasseur remained unphased about the potential difficulties that he may face in the recruitment process.
"There are advantages and disadvantages [of being based in Switzerland]," he said. "When you're in the UK, it's easy to move from one team to another one.
"On the other end, in all areas, we'll have some guys coming from Germany, looking for a position.
"I moved to Switzerland and I really appreciate the move."
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