Sauber has announced the reorganisation of its technical department as technical director, James Key, decides to leave the company.

The design and development of the Formula One car will now be led by the department heads for Aerodynamics, Design, Performance and Operations.

"A qualified team shares the overall technical responsibility," said Peter Sauber. "This structure has proved to work well at other racing outfits. Over a period of almost two years, James has accomplished a lot for our team. Especially in the difficult transition period from a manufacturer team into a private enterprise, he contributed significantly to ensure the team regained stability. We would like to thank him for his efforts and wish him all the best for his future."

"I've enjoyed the past two years working at the Sauber F1 Team," said Key, who joined Sauber in 2010 from Force India, having been with the Silverstone team since 1998 when it was Jordan. "It has been a very intense and interesting time, in which we had to manage the transition from a much larger team to a smaller one, and everybody handled that very well. I think the team is now well set for the future and I wish it the very best. I have been offered a new role back in the UK, which I decided to accept."