Sauber Sees Positive Signs Despite Point-less Streak: Bottas and Zhou Strive Amid F1 Challenges

The Sauber team identifies a "positive sign," but Valtteri Bottas remains without any points. The head of Sauber maintains that there are grounds for a hopeful outlook.

Sauber is 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 the Monza race, finishing two spots ahead of his teammate Guanyu Zhou.

Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, and Logan Sargeant (who has recently lost his seat with Williams) are the only Formula 1 drivers in 2024 who haven't scored a point. Additionally, Sauber is the only team yet to earn any points.

The Sauber team’s drivers started at the rear of the grid, with Bottas being equipped with hard tires to attempt an extended initial stint. However, the strategy proved to be mostly ineffective.

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

He stated that although the final rankings may not appear significantly different from earlier races, there were encouraging aspects in the team's performance.

"Both drivers effectively managed their hard and medium compound tires, which enabled us to stick to our pre-race strategy with controlled tire wear."

"Although we still don't have enough speed to compete for points, the low-drag package we introduced at Monza along with the adjustments we made for qualifying enhanced the car's balance, allowing Valtteri and Zhou to contend."

"We still have a considerable distance to cover before we can compete for points, but it's crucial to recognize that today, the difference between us and our main rivals has decreased. This is an encouraging development that we should highlight."

Bottas reflected on the race, saying, "It was a smooth and straightforward race for our team. We opted for a one-stop strategy, beginning with the hard tires, as we aimed to try something different and hoped for a favorable Safety Car timing."

"Regrettably, our efforts did not yield the desired results, but I believe attempting it was worthwhile."

Reflecting on the progress of the race, I have no regrets about our strategy. We managed to advance a few spots and earned a P16 finish through our efforts, but realistically, that was the best outcome we could achieve.

"We didn't see significant improvements in our speed; although our weekend began positively, we struggled to maintain our initial momentum and make substantial advancements. Nevertheless, this weekend was definitely an improvement over Zandvoort. There's a considerable amount of work ahead for us to make further progress, and we'll be focusing on that as we prepare for the upcoming back-to-back races in Baku and Singapore."

Zhou commented, "Our speed today wasn't sufficient to contend for points, particularly in a straightforward race with no disruptions or major surprises."

"Our speed was better than it was last weekend in Zandvoort, but we're still lagging behind our main rivals in terms of performance."

Over the weekend, there has been some progress in our single-lap speed, though it's evident that we must identify the car's optimal performance settings and deliver a perfect performance throughout the weekend to achieve the best outcome.

"Instead of depending on luck, our team's strategy is to stay focused and keep working diligently to shave off those vital fractions of a second that will help us break into the top ten."

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

Nico Hulkenberg has secured a contract with Haas for 2025, putting Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu in a fierce competition to maintain their positions in Formula 1.

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

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