Sauber Sees Progress Despite Point-less Streak: Optimism Grows for Bottas and Team

Sauber Sees Encouraging Progress Despite Valtteri Bottas' Lack of Points

Sauber Chief Maintains There Are Grounds for Optimism

Sauber are 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 spot at Monza, finishing two positions in front of his teammate Guanyu Zhou.

Bottas, Zhou, and Logan Sargeant (who no longer holds his Williams seat) are the only Formula 1 drivers in 2024 yet to score a point, with Sauber being the sole team without any points.

Sauber's pair of drivers started from the rear of the grid. Bottas was equipped with hard tires to maximize his initial stint, but the team's strategy didn't yield significant results.

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

He stated that, although the final standings appear similar to earlier races, there were encouraging aspects in the team's performance.

"Each driver successfully conserved their hard and medium tyres, enabling us to stick to our pre-race strategy and keep tyre wear in check."

"Certainly, we are still not competitive enough to earn points due to our overall speed: however, the low-drag setup we introduced at Monza along with the adjustments made for qualifying enhanced the car's balance, providing Valtteri and Zhou an opportunity to compete."

“We have a significant distance to cover before we can compete for points, but it's crucial to recognize that the difference between us and our immediate rivals has diminished today. This is a positive development that we should highlight.”

Bottas commented on the race, stating, "It was a smooth and calm race for us. We opted for a one-stop strategy, beginning with the hard tires, attempting a different approach and hoping to benefit from a possible Safety Car at the right moment."

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

Reflecting on the race, I believe I made all the right decisions. We managed to move up a few spots and finished in 16th place based on our performance, but that was the best outcome we could achieve.

"Our speed didn't see significant improvement; although our weekend began on a positive note, we struggled to maintain that momentum and make notable advancements. Despite this, it was definitely a better performance than what we had in Zandvoort. We recognize there's substantial work needed to progress further, 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 for us to compete for points, especially since the race went smoothly without any interruptions or major surprises."

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

Over the weekend, there was noticeable progress in our single-lap speed. However, it's evident that we need to fine-tune the car's performance and have an impeccable weekend to achieve the optimal outcome.

“Instead of depending on chance, our team is dedicated to concentrating and putting in the effort to gain those vital tenths of a second that will move us nearer to the top ten.”

Sauber is set to transition into Audi next year but will retain their current identity for now.

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

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

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