Sauber’s Optimism Amid Point-less Struggles: Bottas and Zhou Seek Progress at Monza

Sauber identifies encouraging indicators, yet Valtteri Bottas remains without points

Sauber's team leader maintains that there are grounds for a hopeful outlook

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 his position at Williams) are the sole Formula 1 drivers in 2024 who haven't scored any points. Additionally, Sauber is the only team yet to earn a point.

Sauber's drivers started at the rear of the grid, leading the team to equip Bottas with hard tires for an extended initial stint. However, these tactics did not yield significant results.

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

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

"Each driver successfully maintained their tire performance, whether using hard or medium compounds. This effective tire management enabled us to stick to our pre-race strategy, keeping wear and tear in check."

Certainly, this isn't sufficient to compete for points yet, as we need more overall speed. However, the low-drag package introduced at Monza and the adjustments made for qualifying enhanced the car's balance, providing Valtteri and Zhou an opportunity to contend.

"We're not yet at the stage where we can compete for points, but it's crucial to note that the distance between us and our main rivals has decreased today – this is a promising 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 for favorable timing with a possible Safety Car."

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

Reflecting on the race, there's nothing I would change: we managed to move up a few spots and secured 16th place on our own merit, but that was truly the best outcome we could achieve.

"We didn't significantly improve our speed; although our weekend began positively, we struggled to maintain that momentum and make substantial gains. Nevertheless, this weekend was certainly better than our experience at Zandvoort. We have a considerable amount of work to do to advance further, and we'll be focusing on this as we prepare for the upcoming consecutive races in Baku and Singapore."

Zhou commented, "We didn't have enough speed today to compete for points, especially since it was a straightforward race with no major disruptions or surprises."

“Although our speed has definitely gotten better compared to last weekend in Zandvoort, we are still lagging behind our main rivals in terms of performance.”

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

“Instead of counting on luck, our team is dedicated to working diligently to shave off those critical fractions of a second that will edge us nearer to the top ten.”

Sauber is set to transition into Audi next year, although they will keep their existing form for the time being.

Nico Hulkenberg has been secured by Haas for the 2025 season, which puts Bottas and Zhou in a position where they must compete to keep their places in Formula 1.

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

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