Sauber Sees Progress Despite Point-less Finish at Monza: Bottas and Zhou Look to the Future

Sauber identifies a "positive indicator" but Valtteri Bottas remains without points

Sauber's team leader maintains there are grounds for hope

Sauber is confident that they have narrowed the distance to their closest competitors, even though they have yet to earn any points at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.

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

Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, and Logan Sargeant (who no longer holds his position with Williams) are the sole Formula 1 drivers in 2024 who haven't scored any points, while Sauber stands as the only team yet to earn a point.

The Sauber team’s drivers ended up at the rear of the grid during qualifying. Consequently, Bottas was equipped with hard tires and tasked with running the longest initial stint, but these strategies did not yield significant results.

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

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

"Each driver successfully handled the hard and medium tires, enabling us to stick to our pre-race strategy while keeping tire wear in check."

"Certainly, we still don't have the speed needed to compete for points. However, the low-drag package introduced at Monza and the adjustments made for qualifying enhanced the car's balance, providing Valtteri and Zhou with an opportunity to compete."

"We have a considerable distance to cover before we can compete for points, but it's crucial to note that we've made progress in closing the gap with our main rivals – this is a positive development we should highlight."

Bottas reflected on the race, saying: "It was a straightforward and calm race for us. We opted for a one-stop strategy, beginning with the hard tires, as we aimed to try something different and hoped to benefit from a possible Safety Car intervention."

"Regrettably, things didn’t turn out as we hoped, but I believe it was worthwhile to make the effort."

Reflecting on the events of the race, I wouldn't change a thing: we managed to move up a few spots and earned a 16th place finish through our efforts, but that was truly the best outcome we could achieve.

"We didn't see significant gains in speed. Although our weekend began positively, we weren't able to maintain that progress or make notable improvements. Nonetheless, this weekend was definitely better than our experience in Zandvoort. We have a lot of work to do to make further advancements, and we'll be focusing on that as we prepare for the upcoming consecutive races in Baku and Singapore."

Zhou commented: "Our speed today wasn't sufficient to contend for a position closer to the points, particularly in a race that went smoothly without any interruptions or significant surprises."

"Our speed has definitely improved since last weekend in Zandvoort, but we are still lagging behind our main rivals in terms of performance."

Over the weekend, there has been noticeable progress in our single-lap speed; however, it's evident that we must optimize the car's performance and deliver a perfect weekend to achieve the highest outcome.

"Instead of counting on good fortune, our team concentrates on diligent effort to gain those essential tenths of a second that will move us nearer to breaking into the top ten."

Sauber is set to progress into becoming Audi next year, although they will maintain their present form.

Nico Hulkenberg has secured a contract with Haas for the 2025 season, putting pressure on Bottas and Zhou to compete fiercely to retain their spots in Formula 1.

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

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