Sauber Sees Glimmers of Hope Despite Pointless Streak: Bottas and Zhou Struggle at Monza

Sauber sees "positive indication," yet Valtteri Bottas remains without points.

Sauber's chief maintains there's cause for hope.

Sauber feels confident that they have 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 has recently been replaced at Williams, are the only Formula 1 drivers in the 2024 season who haven't scored any points. Additionally, Sauber is the only team that has not earned any points.

Sauber's pair of drivers secured spots at the rear of the starting lineup, prompting the team to equip Bottas with hard tires and have him run the longest initial stint possible. However, these strategies ultimately proved to be mostly ineffective.

Nonetheless, team spokesperson Alessandro Alunni Bravi maintains that there is a sense of hope.

He stated that despite the final standings on paper appearing similar to earlier races, there were some encouraging aspects in the team's performance.

"Each driver successfully maintained their tyres, whether hard or medium, which enabled us to stick to our pre-race strategy, keeping degradation in check."

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

“We have a considerable distance to cover before we can compete for points, but we must recognize that today we have narrowed the gap with our closest rivals. This is an encouraging development that we should highlight.”

Bottas shared his thoughts on the race, saying, "It was a smooth and uneventful race for our team. We opted for a one-stop strategy, beginning with the hard tires, in an attempt to try something new and potentially benefit from the timing of a possible Safety Car."

"Regrettably, things didn't go as planned for us, but I believe it was beneficial to make the attempt."

Reflecting on the race, I wouldn't change a thing. We managed to move up a few spots on the track and reached P16 based on our performance, but that was truly the best we could achieve.

"Our speed hasn't significantly improved; although our weekend started positively, we struggled to maintain that momentum and saw little progress. However, it has definitely been an improvement over Zandvoort. We have considerable work to do to advance further, and that's what we'll focus on as we prepare for the 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 any major disruptions or surprises.

"Although our speed was notably better than it was last weekend in Zandvoort, we are still lagging behind our main rivals in terms of performance."

Over the weekend, there has been some progress in our single-lap speed. However, it's evident that we need to optimize the car's performance and deliver a perfect weekend to achieve the best outcome.

"Our strategy doesn't depend on luck. Instead, we are dedicated to working diligently to gain those vital fractions of a second that will edge us nearer to the top ten."

Sauber is set to transition into Audi next year, although they will keep their existing form.

Nico Hulkenberg has secured a contract with Haas for 2025, putting pressure on Bottas and Zhou as they fight to keep their spots in Formula 1.

The only teams with open driver positions for the upcoming season are Sauber and Red Bull.

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