Sauber’s Signs of Progress Amid Point-less Struggle: Bottas and Team Optimistic Despite Monza Setback

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

Clean team 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 in 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 the 2024 F1 season, Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu, and Logan Sargeant, who no longer has his spot with Williams, are the only drivers yet to score a point. Additionally, Sauber remains the only team without any points.

Sauber's pair of drivers started at the rear of the grid, leading the team to equip Bottas with hard tires for an extended initial stint. However, their strategy ultimately proved ineffective.

Despite the circumstances, team spokesperson Alessandro Alunni Bravi remains hopeful.

He stated that, despite the final standings appearing similar to past races, the team's performance showed encouraging signs.

"Each driver successfully maintained their tyres, both hard and medium compounds, enabling us to stick to our pre-race strategy while keeping tyre wear in check."

"Certainly, we are still not quick enough to compete for points; however, the low-drag package we introduced at Monza and the adjustments made for qualifying enhanced the car's balance, providing Valtteri and Zhou with an opportunity to contend."

"We have a significant distance to cover before we can compete for points, but it is crucial to recognize that today the gap between us and our main rivals has decreased – this is an encouraging development that we should highlight."

Bottas commented on the race, saying, "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 try something different and hoped for a favorable Safety Car timing."

"Regrettably, our efforts didn't yield the desired outcome, but I believe attempting it was worthwhile."

Reflecting on the way the race played out, I have no regrets about my decisions: we advanced a few spots based on our performance, reaching P16, which was truly the best we could achieve.

"We didn't see significant gains in our speed; although our weekend began on a positive note, we struggled to maintain that momentum or make substantial improvements. Nonetheless, this weekend was definitely better than our experience in Zandvoort. We have plenty of work ahead to make further progress, which will be our focus leading up to the consecutive races in Baku and Singapore."

Zhou commented that their speed today wasn't sufficient to compete for points, particularly in a race that was smooth and free of interruptions or major 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, there has been some progress in our one-lap speed, yet it's evident that we must identify the optimal performance of the car and deliver a perfect weekend to achieve the best outcome.

“Instead of depending on fortune, our team is dedicated to diligently working to shave off those vital fractions of a second needed to move us closer to the top ten.”

Sauber is set to transform into Audi next year, although they will keep their existing identity.

Nico Hulkenberg has secured a contract with Haas for 2025, which puts Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou in a position where they must fight to stay in Formula 1.

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

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