### “Sauber Sees Silver Linings Despite Point-less Streak: Bottas and Zhou Show Progress at Monza

Sauber Sees Encouraging Progress Despite Bottas Not Scoring Points

Sauber's Chief Maintains Optimistic Outlook

Sauber is confident that they have 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 Monza, finishing two spots in front of his teammate Guanyu Zhou.

Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, and Logan Sargeant (who is no longer with Williams) are the only Formula 1 drivers in 2024 who haven't scored any points. Additionally, Sauber is the only team yet to earn a point.

Sauber's pair of drivers started from the rear of the grid, prompting the team to equip Bottas with hard tires to extend his first stint as long as possible. However, these tactics were mostly unsuccessful.

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

He stated that although the final rankings appear similar to past races, the team's performance showed some encouraging aspects.

"Each driver successfully managed both hard and medium tyres, enabling us to stick to our pre-race strategy and keep degradation in check."

"Naturally, this isn’t sufficient yet to compete for points, since we still lack overall speed. However, the low-drag package we introduced at Monza, along with the setup modifications 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 crucial to recognize that we've made progress by narrowing the gap with our main rivals. This is a promising development worth highlighting."

Bottas reflected on the race, stating, "It was a smooth and straightforward race for us. We opted for a one-stop strategy, beginning with the hard tires, as we aimed to take a different approach and potentially benefit from the timing of a Safety Car."

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

Reflecting on how the race played out, I have no regrets: we managed to move up a few spots through our performance, reaching P16 by our own efforts, but that was genuinely the best we could achieve.

"We didn't see significant improvement in our speed; although our weekend began positively, we struggled to maintain that progress or make substantial gains. Nevertheless, it was definitely an improvement over our performance in Zandvoort. We have a considerable amount of work to do to advance further, and that's what we'll be focusing on as we prepare for the upcoming consecutive races in Baku and Singapore."

Zhou commented, "Our speed today wasn't sufficient to contend for points, particularly in an uninterrupted and uneventful race."

“Our speed has definitely gotten better since last weekend in Zandvoort, but we're still lagging behind our main rivals when it comes to overall performance.

Over the weekend, we've noticed some progress in our single-lap speed, but it's evident that we still need to fine-tune the car and deliver a perfect performance throughout the weekend to achieve the best outcome.

"Instead of depending on fortune, our team is dedicated to staying focused and working diligently to gain those critical tenths of a second that will move us nearer to the top ten."

Sauber will undergo further transformation into Audi next year, but they will keep their present form.

Haas has signed Nico Hulkenberg for the 2025 season, putting Bottas and Zhou in a position where they must compete fiercely to keep their spots in Formula 1.

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

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