The Swiss outfit, which is set to revert to the Sauber name for two seasons before formally becoming Audi in 2026, is undergoing a major expansion under CEO Andreas Seidl.
Former McLaren technical director Key started work on 1 September, and attended the Japanese GP in order to get an overview of race weekend operations.
Meanwhile erstwhile head of trackside engineering Xevi Pujolar has been given the new role of F1 racing director as the team continues to evolve.
Alunni Bravi stressed that the process of change will be a gradual one, with the results not always obvious from the outside.
"We don't like to speak too much,” he told Autosport. “We have said from the beginning of the year that our development plan started in January 2023.
"We started the recruitment, we have appointed James Key and other key profiles that we will announce from time to time.
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“And of course, we are trying to fix all our weaknesses. Sometimes you can see immediate results. Some other times, you need to wait a bit.
"But we are confident that we have a good foundation. And of course, we need to improve, as the competition is very tight.”
Source: Autosport