Nasr hails ‘brighter future’ for Sauber

Felipe Nasr says Longbow Finance’s takeover of Sauber has ensured a “brighter future” for the F1 team, and one that he may yet be involved in.

Earlier this week Sauber confirmed that Longbow Finance completed a takeover of the Swiss team.

The deal came after much speculation about the team’s future in the wake of month’s of financial uncertainty.

“It’s good news for the team,” Nasr said at the Hungarian GP.

“It’s been a while they’ve been trying to find a solution and it gives a new perspective for everyone on the short and long term.

“There were always rumours, I never knew the whole picture, but I could see the whole team was struggling.

“For myself, but also for mechanics, employees, it gives them security and stability to work with what they have. I’m sure there is a brighter future to look at and I’m sure we can make the car more competitive.”

The cash injection means Sauber will now press on with updates that they previously did not have the money to run.

“We had updates planned, but it was really missing the green light and now things are coming,” Nasr explained.

“We still have 11 races to go this season, hopefully we have enough time to fight for a few points.

“The priority now is to bring the car some performance in the next few races.

“It’s also true that the team is working on 2017 plans, back at the factory redesigning the new car – there are a lot of things happening.

“This year everything came pretty late, but we still have time to do something for next year.”

As for next year, the Brazilian admits there is now a better chance that he will stay on at Sauber for a third successive season.

“I wouldn’t discount any possibility right now,” he said.