Sauber Sees Silver Lining Despite Point-less Season: Bottas and Zhou Show Progress at Monza

Clean team sees "encouraging indication," yet Valtteri Bottas remains without points

Clean 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 a point 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 who have not scored any points. Meanwhile, Sauber is the sole team yet to earn a point.

The Sauber team ended up with both their drivers at the rear of the grid during qualifying. They decided to start Bottas on hard tires, aiming for an extended first stint, but the strategy did not yield significant results.

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

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

"Each driver successfully handled their hard and medium tires, enabling them to stick to our pre-race strategy and keep tire wear in check."

"Naturally, it's still insufficient to compete for points due to our overall lack of speed. However, the low-drag package we introduced at Monza, combined with the adjustments made for qualifying, enhanced the car's balance. This 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 and narrowed the gap with our main rivals. This is an encouraging development that we should highlight.”

Bottas shared his thoughts on the race, stating, "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 a different approach and hoped to benefit from a well-timed Safety Car intervention."

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

Reflecting on the progression of the race, I have no regrets about my decisions: we managed to advance a few spots, reaching 16th place through our own efforts, but that was realistically our limit.

"Our speed hasn't seen significant improvement. The weekend began positively, but we struggled to maintain that momentum and make noticeable gains. However, it was definitely an improvement over our performance in Zandvoort. We have a considerable amount of work to do to make further progress, 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 compete for points, particularly in a straightforward race with no interruptions or major 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."

This weekend, there has been noticeable progress in our single-lap speed. However, it's evident that we must fine-tune the car and deliver a perfect performance throughout the weekend to achieve the optimal outcome.

“Instead of counting on luck, our team is dedicated to working diligently to shave off those vital tenths of a second that can propel us into the top ten.”

Next year, Sauber will progress into becoming Audi, although they will retain their existing form.

Haas has secured Nico Hulkenberg for the 2025 season, which puts Bottas and Zhou in a fierce competition to retain their positions in Formula 1.

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

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