There's no denying that over the last two seasons Sauber has struggled. finishing a lowly eighth in the 2015 standings, this season the Swiss outfit has fared even worse and is currently last in the constructors' standings following Pascal Wehrlein's point finish in Austria.

Not forgetting the debacle of Melbourne when the team 'did a British Airways' by selling more (driver) seats than it had available, resulting in embarrassing publicity and a hefty lawsuit and compensation.

With the team's purchase by Longbow Finance however, team boss Monisha Kaltenborn is convinced that things will improve indeed, she insists that next year the team will have no excuses.

"Our focus is to get back to business as normal," she told Autosport. "We need to focus not just on how to survive the next day but to think longer term and get the most out of the car.

"I'm convinced you can still get things out of this year's car," she continued, "but then focus on next year's car. There are no excuses not to be good next year.

"We're not saying we want to be right on top next year," she admitted, "but we know what we can do. We have the infrastructure for it and we have the people so why should we not have that ambition?"

She revealed that the team is also looking to restructure, with one of the first aims being to replace (technical director) Mark Smith who mysteriously quit the team days before the start of the season.

"We would like a technical director back and the people want that as well but it's not easy to find the right person," she admitted, confirming that since Smith's departure a number of other heads of department have 'shared' the role. "It has hurt because you do not get the highest efficiency out of a group but if this is the way we had to work, there's no point in saying it would be better not like this. We have had to make the most of it but yes, bringing in a technical director would make it more efficient.

"There are a couple of areas we need to look at," she added. "Wherever it is strategically necessary, we will recruit. It is about additions and replacements.

"Now we have a chance again, we have to be open to making the most of it, and this will involve changes."