Sauber Sees Progress Despite Point-less Season: Bottas and Zhou Remain Optimistic

Sauber sees "encouraging indication" despite Valtteri Bottas not scoring points

Sauber chief remains hopeful

Sauber is confident they've narrowed the distance to their closest competitors, even though they haven't earned any points at the F1 Italian Grand Prix.

Valtteri Bottas secured the 16th position at the Monza race, 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 F1 drivers in 2024 who haven't scored any points, with Sauber being the only team in the same situation.

Sauber's drivers started from the rear of the grid, leading the team to equip Bottas with hard tires and keep him on the track for an extended initial run. However, the strategy did not yield significant results.

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

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

"Both drivers successfully managed their hard and medium tyres, enabling us to stick to our pre-race strategy with controlled tyre degradation."

Certainly, this isn't sufficient to compete for points yet, as we still lack overall speed. However, the low-drag configuration we introduced at Monza, along with the adjustments made for qualifying, enhanced the car's balance and provided Valtteri and Zhou with an opportunity to compete.

"We're not yet in a position to compete for points, but it's worth noting that we've made progress in closing the gap with our main rivals – a development we should highlight as encouraging."

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

“Regrettably, things didn’t go as planned for us, though I believe it was worthwhile to attempt it.

Reflecting on the race, I realize I wouldn't change a thing: we earned a few spots through our performance, reaching 16th place fairly, but that was truly the best we could achieve.

"We didn't see significant gains in our speed. Although our weekend began positively, we couldn't maintain that momentum or make substantial improvements. However, it was definitely better than our performance in Zandvoort. We have a lot of work to do 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 stated that their speed today was insufficient to compete for points, particularly in a straightforward race without any disruptions or major surprises.

"Although our speed was noticeably 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 is evident that we must identify the optimal performance settings for the car and deliver a perfect weekend to achieve the best outcomes.

Instead of depending on luck, our team is dedicated to staying focused and working diligently to shave off those critical fractions of a second that will help us break into the top ten.

Sauber is set to progress into becoming Audi next year, though they will keep their present identity.

Nico Hulkenberg has secured a spot with Haas for the 2025 season, putting pressure on Bottas and Zhou to fight for their places and avoid being dropped from Formula 1 entirely.

The only two teams with open driver spots for the upcoming season are Sauber and RB.

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