Sauber Sees Silver Lining Despite Point-less Performance at Italian Grand Prix

Sauber Identifies "Encouraging Signal," Yet Valtteri Bottas Remains Without Points

Sauber Chief Asserts There Are Grounds for Hope

Sauber is confident they have reduced 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 no longer holds his position with Williams) are the only Formula 1 drivers in 2024 yet to score a point. Additionally, Sauber stands as the sole team without any points.

Sauber's pair of drivers secured positions at the rear of the grid during qualifying. Consequently, Bottas was equipped with hard tires and tasked with running the longest initial stint. However, the team's strategy did not yield significant results.

Nonetheless, the team's spokesperson, Alessandro Alunni Bravi, remains hopeful.

He stated that while the team's final standings might appear similar to past races, there were encouraging aspects in their performance.

“Each driver successfully maintained their tires, both hard and medium compounds, enabling us to stick to our pre-race strategy with minimal wear issues.”

"Naturally, this isn't sufficient to compete for points yet since our overall speed is lacking. However, the low-drag package we introduced at Monza, combined with the adjustments we made for the qualifying setup, 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 crucial to recognize that we've made progress today by narrowing the gap with our main rivals. This is a positive development worth highlighting."

Bottas commented on the race, stating, "It was a fairly 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 at the right time."

“Regrettably, that plan didn’t succeed for us, but I believe it was worthwhile to attempt it.”

Reflecting on the events of the race, I realize there’s nothing I would change: we earned a few spots on the track, reaching 16th place through our own efforts, but that was truly the best outcome we could achieve.

"Our speed hasn't significantly improved; although our weekend began positively, we struggled to maintain that pace and didn’t see much advancement. Despite this, it was definitely an improvement over our performance at Zandvoort. We have plenty 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 commented, "Our speed today wasn't sufficient to compete for points, particularly in a straightforward race without any interruptions or significant surprises."

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

"Over the weekend, we've noticed an enhancement in our single-lap speed, yet it's evident that we must pinpoint the car's optimal performance and deliver a perfect weekend to achieve the best outcome."

"Instead of depending on luck, our team is dedicated to staying focused and working diligently to shave off those vital fractions of a second that will move us nearer to breaking into the top ten."

Sauber will undergo further transformation into Audi next year, yet they will keep their existing form.

Nico Hulkenberg has secured a spot with Haas for the 2025 season, which means that Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu are now battling to stay in Formula 1 and avoid being cut.

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

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