Sauber Shows Signs of Progress Despite Bottas Remaining Point-Less at Monza

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

Clean team leader maintains there are grounds for hope

Sauber are confident that 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 the Monza race, finishing two spots in front of his teammate Guanyu Zhou.

In 2024, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, and Logan Sargeant (who no longer has his spot with Williams) are the only Formula 1 drivers yet to score any points. Additionally, Sauber remains the only team without any points.

Sauber's pair of drivers started from the rear of the grid, prompting the team to equip Bottas with hard tires for an extended initial run. However, these strategies ultimately proved to be mostly ineffective.

Nevertheless, spokesperson Alessandro Alunni Bravi remains hopeful.

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

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

"Naturally, this isn't sufficient to compete for points since we lack 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 contend."

"We remain far from being competitive 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 that we should highlight."

Bottas commented on the race, saying, "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 something different and hoped the timing of a possible Safety Car would work in our favor."

“Sadly, 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 overtake several competitors, ultimately achieving 16th place through our own efforts, but that was truly the best outcome possible.

"We haven't significantly advanced in speed; although our weekend began positively, we struggled to maintain momentum or make substantial improvements. Nevertheless, this weekend has been better than our experience at Zandvoort. There's a great deal of work ahead 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 was insufficient to compete for a better position, particularly in a race that was smooth and free of disruptions or major surprises.

"Although our speed showed a significant improvement from last weekend's performance in Zandvoort, we still lag behind our main rivals in terms of overall performance."

Over the weekend, our single-lap speed has shown some progress. However, it's evident that we must identify the car's optimal performance settings and deliver a perfect execution to achieve the best outcome.

“Instead of depending on fortune, our team prioritizes diligent effort and consistent hard work to shave off those vital fractions of a second that will move us nearer to the top ten.”

Next year, Sauber will progress into becoming Audi, but they will keep their present identity.

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

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

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