F1
Sauber Finds Glimmers of Hope Amid Challenges at Monza Despite Bottas’ Point-less Streak
Sauber sees "positive indicator" yet Valtteri Bottas remains without points
Sauber leader maintains there is cause for hope
Sauber are confident that they have narrowed the distance to their closest competitors even though they did not earn any points at the F1 Italian Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas secured 16th place at Monza, finishing two positions in front of his teammate Guanyu Zhou.
Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, and Logan Sargeant (who no longer holds a position with Williams) are the only Formula 1 drivers in 2024 who haven't scored any points, while Sauber remains the only team without points.
The Sauber team saw both of their drivers start from the rear of the grid. Bottas used hard tires and was kept out for an extended first stint, but these strategies didn't yield significant results.
Nonetheless, team spokesperson Alessandro Alunni Bravi maintains there is a degree of hope.
He stated that despite the final placements appearing similar to previous races, the team's performance showed some encouraging signs.
"Each driver successfully managed their hard and medium tires, which enabled us to stick to our pre-race strategy and keep tire wear in check."
"Although we still don't have the speed to compete for points, the low-drag package introduced at Monza and the adjustments made for qualifying enhanced the car's balance, allowing Valtteri and Zhou to be more competitive."
"We are still far from being competitive in the points race, but it's worth noting that the distance between us and our main rivals has decreased. This is a positive development that we should highlight."
Bottas shared his thoughts on the race: "The race was straightforward and without incidents for us. We opted for a one-stop strategy, beginning with the hard tires, as we wanted to try a different approach and hoped to benefit from the timing of a possible Safety Car."
"Regrettably, it didn't go as planned for us, but I believe it was worthwhile to attempt."
Reflecting on the race's progression, I have no regrets with our strategy: we advanced a few spots through our efforts, achieving a 16th place finish, which was realistically the best outcome possible.
"We didn’t see significant improvements in speed. Although our weekend began positively, we struggled to maintain that initial momentum and saw little advancement. Nonetheless, this weekend was definitely an improvement over Zandvoort. We have considerable work to do to make further progress, and that will be our focus as we prepare for the upcoming consecutive races in Baku and Singapore."
Zhou commented, "Our speed today was not sufficient to compete closer to the points, particularly in a race that was straightforward and free of major disruptions or surprises."
"Although our speed showed clear progress compared to last weekend at Zandvoort, we are still lagging behind our immediate rivals in terms of performance."
Over the weekend, we've noticed some progress in our single-lap speed. However, it's evident that we need to optimize the car's performance and have a perfect weekend to achieve the best outcome.
“Instead of depending on luck, our team prioritizes diligent effort to shave off those critical fractions of a second needed to reach the top ten.”
Sauber will maintain their current identity next year while transitioning into Audi.
Nico Hulkenberg has been secured by Haas for the 2025 season, putting Bottas and Zhou in a position where they must compete fiercely to retain their places in Formula 1.
Sauber and Red Bull are the last teams with open driver spots for the upcoming season.
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