Sauber’s Glimmer of Hope: Bottas and Zhou Yet to Score in Challenging F1 Season

Clean team sees "good indication," but Valtteri Bottas yet to score

Clean team's leader maintains there's cause for hope

Sauber is confident they have narrowed 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 a position with Williams—are the only Formula 1 drivers in 2024 who haven't scored any points. Additionally, Sauber is the sole team yet to secure a point.

Sauber's pair of drivers secured positions at the end of the grid, leading to Bottas being equipped with hard tires and sent out to endure the longest initial stint. However, the team's strategy was mostly unsuccessful.

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

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

"Both drivers effectively handled their hard and medium tires, enabling us to stick to our pre-race strategy with controlled degradation."

"Naturally, it isn't sufficient to compete for points yet, as we still lack speed overall. However, the low-drag package introduced at Monza and the setup adjustments for qualifying enhanced the car's balance, providing Valtteri and Zhou with an opportunity to compete."

"We are not yet ready to compete for points, but it's worth noting that the distance to our main rivals has decreased – this is a good indication that we should highlight."

Bottas commented on the race, saying, "It was a straightforward and smooth race for us. We opted for a one-stop strategy, beginning with the hard tires, in an attempt to try something different and possibly benefit from the timing of a potential Safety Car."

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

Reflecting on the way the race played out, I have no regrets: we managed to move up a few spots on the track, reaching 16th place through our own efforts, but that was truly the best we could achieve.

"We didn't see significant improvement in our speed. Although our weekend began positively, we struggled to maintain that pace or make considerable advances. Nonetheless, it was definitely better than our performance in Zandvoort. We have a substantial amount of work to do to progress further, and that's what we'll focus on as we prepare for the upcoming consecutive races in Baku and Singapore."

Zhou commented, "Our speed today wasn't sufficient to compete closer to the points, especially in a straightforward race without any disruptions or major surprises."

"Although our speed was noticeably better than last weekend in Zandvoort, we are still lagging behind our main rivals in terms of performance."

Over the weekend, we've noticed some progress in our one-lap speed, yet it's evident that we need to identify the car's optimal performance point and carry out 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 is set to transform into Audi next year but will keep their existing identity for the time being.

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

The only two open spots for drivers next season are with Sauber and Red Bull.

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