Audi has finally put a stop to it. The Hinwil team has formalized the arrival of Stefano Sordo in the technical staff. Andreas Seidl has found a very capable engineer in America around whom the German brand will be able to build a structure worthy of the tradition of the four rings.
The fact that Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber is the only one still with zero points in the Constructors’ World Championship standings does not play to the advantage of a team that is experiencing a difficult transition from being a customer team to transforming itself into an official team.
In the F1 Circus the German project does not enjoy too much trust and, despite repeated attempts, there are many figures in the paddock who have declined a generous economic proposal, not believing in the potential of the company, at least in the short term.
Valtteri Bottas, Team Stake F1 Kick Sauber C44
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Seidl, therefore, went to look for the Performance Director in the United States and found a good Italian engineer who will report to James Key, the current technical director. This is Stefano Sordo, technical director of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing involved in IndyCar.
Graduated from the Polytechnic of Milan, he began his racing career with Tatuus in 1996 before arriving in F1 with Arrows, passing through the McLaren team in F3000. Having joined Jaguar in 2003 as a track engineer, he remained in Milton Keynes during the transformation of the English team into Red Bull Racing where he was a mainstay until 2016, moving from the track to managing aerodynamics.
Esteemed by Adrian Newey, Stefano Sordo had contributed to Sebastian Vettel’s victory in four world championships in the period 2020-2013, before joining McLaren in 2016 as head of performance. Three years ago he decided to cross the ocean to dedicate himself to IndyCar. Now the time has come to return to Europe to start an ambitious program.
“Stefano’s appointment – explains Seidle, CEO of the Sauber Group – is an important step in the development of our technical office. Sordo knows what a winning team needs, he brings a wealth of experience to the team and, with the diverse range of roles he has held in the past, he is perfectly placed to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of our technical operations and address this that is required.”
Sordo, therefore, could be the man called to act as a “pied piper” to attract valuable technicians to Hinwil who can contribute to the creation of a team in line with Audi’s ambitions. If the choice of James Key seemed weak, the move to bring the Italian expert to Switzerland seems right…
