F1 | Alfa Romeo Sauber, Vasseur curbs his enthusiasm: "It's easier to improve when you're four seconds behind"

In the ranking of improvements made by single-seaters in the last two years, the Clean. The C37, brought to the track last season by Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson, was more than 1,5 seconds faster than its C36 predecessor.

With the performance, the placing in the constructors' standings clearly also improved, going from last place in 2017 (5 points in 20 races) to eighth last season (48 points in 21 races).

On the subject, interviewed by Autosport, Frederic Vasseur said: "We had to improve in every single aspect, the reason for our substantial improvement is also due to teams like Williams and McLaren who worked more than they should".

Continuing with his discussion, the team principal of the Swiss team added: “I don't want to be negative and affect the team's mood, but it's easier to improve when you're four seconds behind than when you need to improve by a few tenths. I think the next step will be the hardest one".

Vasseur also compared the path taken by Sauber to that of Renault, where the French manager was head of Sports Management until January 2017: "It's the same story, when I joined the aim was to become sixth, fifth or fourth. It's one thing to set yourself that goal, it's another to hunt for the best teams".

After a more than positive 2018, there is great anticipation for the new Sauber which will rely on Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi and which will be unveiled in the Barcelona pit lane on February 18th.