Raikkonen already improving Sauber

Kimi Raikkonen will help take Sauber onto another level and has already begun to effect change at the team, says Fred Vasseur. The veteran has confirmed a two-year switch to Sauber from 2019 after being replaced at Ferrari by Charles Leclerc.

Raikkonen began his Formula 1 career with Sauber in 2001 and will return 18 years later, insisting his passion for racing remains undimmed, despite an impressive career that has taken in a title-winning campaign with Ferrari in 2007.

The Finn has not won a race since returning to the Scuderia in 2014, but has remained on the team due to his consistency and reputation for fine technical feedback, something that Vasseur believes will also pay dividends for Sauber.

"He has the reputation to be a very good technician, with very strong feedback," Vasseur told Motorsport.com.

"Probably when you are 450 people it's more important to have this kind of guy than when you are two or three times bigger.

"We need to have a strong leader on the driver side. He has very strong feedback, and he's probably one of the best, or the best.

"The reaction in the factory was huge. It's a huge push to consider that someone like Kimi could join the project, that he trusts the team, he trusts everybody in the team.

"It's giving you self-confidence - 'The guy in front of me, who is a world champion, is considering that I can do a good job, so full push.'

"I was in the design office when we issued internally the email saying that Kimi will join and the reaction was: 'Wow!'"

Vasseur also believes Raikkonen's arrival will make Sauber more attractive to sponsors and immediately raise their profile.

"The announcement of Kimi was a huge push also in terms of marketing," he added. "I think we will discover the impact of Kimi's situation week after week.

"On the grid he'll be with one of the three world champions next year, with Seb and Lewis, and he has a huge impact.

"We are receiving offers from every single area, from sponsors, it's a very strange feeling. I probably even underestimated the impact. I'm not a big fan of the social media, but I think it's a huge thing."

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