Sauber Optimistic Despite Point-less Season as Bottas and Zhou Struggle to Keep F1 Seats

Clean team sees “good omen” but Valtteri Bottas yet to score

Sauber chief maintains there’s cause for hope

Sauber is confident that they've narrowed the distance to their closest competitors, even though they have yet to earn any points at the F1 Italian Grand Prix.

Valtteri Bottas secured the 16th position at Monza, finishing two spots in front of his teammate Guanyu Zhou.

Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, and Logan Sargeant (who recently lost his position with Williams) are the only Formula 1 drivers in 2024 who have not scored any points, while Sauber is the only team yet to earn points.

Sauber's drivers started from the rear of the grid, prompting the team to equip Bottas with hard tires for an extended initial run, but their strategy didn't yield significant results.

Nevertheless, the team’s spokesperson, Alessandro Alunni Bravi, remains hopeful.

He stated that, despite the final rankings appearing similar to past races, there were encouraging aspects in the team's performance.

"Each driver successfully managed their hard and medium tires, enabling us to stick to our pre-race strategy and keep degradation in check."

"Naturally, this still isn't sufficient to compete for points since we lack overall speed; however, the low-drag package we introduced at Monza and the adjustments made for qualifying enhanced the car's balance, providing Valtteri and Zhou an opportunity to contend."

"We're not yet in a position to compete for points, but it's crucial to recognize that the distance between us and our main rivals has lessened today – this is an encouraging development that we should highlight."

Bottas reflected on the race, stating, "It was a smooth race without any major 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 a possible Safety Car at the right moment."

"Regrettably, our attempt wasn't successful, but I believe it was worthwhile to make the effort."

Reflecting on the way the race played out, there's nothing I would change. We managed to overtake a few competitors, finishing in 16th place based on our performance, but that was truly the best we could achieve.

"We haven't significantly improved our speed; although our weekend began positively, we struggled to maintain our performance or make considerable advancements. Nevertheless, it was certainly a better weekend than Zandvoort. We have a substantial amount of work to do to make further progress, which we'll be focusing on as we prepare for the upcoming consecutive races in Baku and Singapore."

Zhou commented that their speed today was insufficient to contend for points, particularly in a race that proceeded smoothly without disruptions or major surprises.

“Although our speed has undoubtedly improved since last weekend in Zandvoort, we are still lagging behind our main rivals in terms of overall performance."

Over the weekend, there has been noticeable progress in our performance during single laps. However, it's evident that we must identify the car’s optimal settings and deliver a perfect performance throughout the weekend to achieve the best outcome.

“Our strategy emphasizes diligent work over chance, as we concentrate on making consistent efforts to shave off those vital fractions of a second that will help us break into the top ten.”

Sauber is set to transition into Audi next year, though they will keep their existing identity for now.

Nico Hulkenberg has secured a contract with Haas for the 2025 season, leaving Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu competing to stay in Formula 1 and not lose their spots.

The only two teams with open driver positions for the next season are Sauber and RB.

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