Sauber’s Optimism Amid Struggles: Bottas and Zhou Seek Points as Team Closes Gap to Rivals

Sauber sees a "positive sign" despite Valtteri Bottas not scoring points

Sauber's chief remains hopeful

Sauber is confident that they have narrowed the distance to their closest competitors, even though they have yet to earn any points at the Formula 1 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 sole Formula 1 drivers in 2024 who have yet to score any points. Additionally, Sauber is the only team that remains pointless.

Sauber's pair of drivers secured spots at the end of the grid, leading to Bottas being equipped with hard tires and tasked with running the longest initial stint. However, the team's attempts were mostly futile.

Nevertheless, according to team spokesperson Alessandro Alunni Bravi, there is a sense of optimism.

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 hard and medium tires, enabling us to adhere to our pre-race strategy while keeping tire wear in check."

“Certainly, this isn’t sufficient yet to compete for points, as our overall speed is still lacking. However, the low-drag package we introduced at Monza, along with the adjustments we made for qualifying, enhanced the car's balance and provided Valtteri and Zhou an opportunity to compete.

"We're not yet in a position to compete for points, but it's crucial to recognize 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, stating, "It was a straightforward and calm race for our team. We opted for a one-stop strategy, beginning with the hard tires, as we aimed to try something different and were hoping that the timing of a possible Safety Car would work in our favor."

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

Reflecting on the events of the race, I realize I wouldn't change a thing: we managed to overtake a few competitors and secured the 16th position through our own efforts, but that was truly the best we could achieve.

"We haven't seen significant improvements in our speed. Although our weekend began positively, we struggled to maintain our initial momentum and didn't make much progress. However, this weekend was definitely an improvement over our performance at Zandvoort. We have a lot of work to do to make further advances, 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 major disruptions or surprises.

Despite showing better speed than we did last weekend in Zandvoort, we are still lagging behind our main rivals in terms of performance.

Over the weekend, our single-lap speed has gotten better, but it's evident that we need to fine-tune the car and have a perfect performance throughout the weekend to achieve the optimal outcome.

“Our strategy involves diligent effort and persistence, rather than depending on chance, to shave off those essential fractions of a second that will help us break into the top ten.”

Sauber is set to transition into Audi next year, though they will keep their existing identity for now.

Nico Hulkenberg has secured a contract with Haas for the 2025 season, which leaves both Bottas and Zhou fighting to stay in Formula 1 and avoid being dropped.

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

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