Worst case scenario while the big boss was watching: Under the eyes of Audi’s general representative for Formula 1, Oliver Hoffmann, Sauber suffered another bitter disappointment. P18 and P20 for Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu – in the sprint as well as in qualifying. Disillusionment for the Swiss: They are simply no better!
Sauber in Spielberg: Tried a lot, helped little
“Unfortunately, we just don’t have the pace. That’s the reality that we have to accept,” said Zhou Guanyu after qualifying. He himself was only able to improve his first lap time in Q1 minimally and was clearly last. He was two tenths behind Logan Sargeant in P19.
Various setup experiments to improve the performance of the C44 failed, another setback for the struggling Formula 1 team after the small upturn a week ago in Barcelona (P12 and P15 for Bottas and Zhou in qualifying, P13 and P16 in the race).
But hope dies last. “The car felt a bit more predictable than this morning and yesterday in qualifying,” said the Chinese. “The question: is it fast enough? We’ll find out tomorrow.” Postscript: “But it’s important to me that we focus on improving the package in general.”
Slogans of perseverance instead of points at Sauber
In the sprint, Sauber struggled with overheating tires. Chosen for the test session because of the low chance of scoring points, the team subsequently changed a few things on the car. “That should help us tomorrow,” Bottas hopes. “We won’t give up!”
“Today’s results have simply shown that we are at the bottom of the pecking order this weekend,” says team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi, who also has to face the truth. “We have to improve in all areas. This requires the commitment of everyone, both here and at the factory, so that we can get out of this critical situation.”
So that things go better the next time Audi is watching. Things should go better, but at a completely different level, for Lando Norris next time. Max Verstappen was once again unstoppable in qualifying. Click here for the article.