Both Sauber drivers have admitted that they were in the dark regarding the team's dire financial circumstances.

Whilst yesterday's confirmation that Swiss finance group Longbow finance has bought the Hinwil based outfit, thus securing its future, Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr claim they were unaware just how bad things were prior to the deal.

"There were always rumours but I never knew the whole picture," Nasr told reporters in Hungary today.

"I could see the whole team was struggling," he continued. "For everybody, including myself and also the mechanics, the staff, it gives them security, stability to work. It's good news for everybody. It's been a while."

Meanwhile, at the official press conference, Ericsson, admitted that he too was pretty much in the dark.

"It's not something I know about," he said. "I'm not involved in these kinds of things.

"It's important the team has a new owner but who they are and what they are is not something I am involved with," he added, when is was suggested he is linked to the new owner. "Who owns the team and who is putting money in is not my job."

Hopefully the benefits of the buy-out will soon bear fruit indeed, the team will have a new rear wing this weekend.

"It's no secret it's been a difficult year for us, financially mainly," said Ericsson. "We haven't been able to update the car the way we wanted. I'm hoping with a new owner we can improve as a team, and I like the way things are looking."

"We had updates planned, but it was really missing the green light and now things are coming," added Nasr. "We still have eleven races to go, 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," he continued. "The team is already 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," he concluded, "but we still have time to do something for next year."

Fact is, Longbow is a finance company where the bottom line is money and profit as opposed to racing glory. Therefore it will be interesting to see how Sauber moves forward, and whether Longbow invests further in the Swiss outfit, which is what will really be required.

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