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

Sauber sees "positive signals" despite Valtteri Bottas not scoring any points

Sauber's team principal remains hopeful

Sauber is confident they have narrowed the distance to their closest competitors, although they have yet to earn any points in 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 has recently been replaced at Williams) are the sole Formula 1 drivers in 2024 who haven't scored a single point. Additionally, Sauber remains the only team yet to earn any points.

Sauber's pair of drivers started from the rear of the grid, with Bottas using hard tires to extend his initial run. However, the team's strategy ultimately proved ineffective.

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

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

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

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

“We have considerable progress to make before we can compete for points, but it’s crucial to recognize that the distance between us and our main rivals has decreased today – this is an encouraging development we should highlight.”

Responding to the race, Bottas said, "It was a smooth and uneventful 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 the timing of a possible Safety Car."

"Regrettably, things didn't go as planned for us, but I'm glad we made the effort to attempt it."

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

"We didn't see significant improvement in our speed. Although our weekend began on a positive note, we struggled to maintain that momentum and couldn't make much progress. However, this weekend was definitely an improvement over our performance in Zandvoort. We have a lot of work to do to advance further, and we'll be focusing on that as we prepare for the upcoming back-to-back races in Baku and Singapore."

Zhou commented that their speed today wasn't sufficient to compete for points, particularly in a race that proceeded smoothly without any disruptions or major surprises.

"Our speed has definitely improved since last weekend in Zandvoort, but we are still at a disadvantage in performance when compared to our main rivals."

Over the weekend, there has been noticeable progress in our single-lap speed, yet it's evident that we must identify the car's optimal performance zone and have a perfect weekend to achieve the best outcome.

“Instead of depending on chance, our team is dedicated to staying focused and working diligently to shave off those vital fractions of a second that will edge us nearer to the top ten.”

Sauber will keep transforming into Audi next year but will stay in their present form.

Nico Hulkenberg has secured a contract with Haas for the 2025 season, leading Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou to fight to keep their positions in Formula 1.

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

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