P19 and P20 in the 2nd free practice, the trigger for a red flag in the 1st free practice: If you take a look at the bare numbers, things are looking bleak for Sauber in Monaco despite the absence of a bad weather front. But there is an explanation for the poor performance. In reality, the team from Hinwil is better and hopes of scoring the first points in Formula 1 are still alive.
Valtteri Bottas: Sauber performance not as bad as it looks
“Our positions do not reflect our true performance,” reassured Valtteri Bottas. Like Oscar Piastri, Sauber used up their soft tires in the first free practice session – due to the threat of rain. It never came, and the C44 then trundled around at the bottom of the rankings on mediums (and with a lack of pace) in the evening.
Sauber was only too fast in the pit lane on Friday: Valtteri Bottas’ 74.6 km/h instead of the permitted 60 cost the team 1000 euros. Apart from that, a positive Friday for the Finn: “I actually felt OK. I had confidence since the first practice session,” he said. There was enough data from numerous setup experiments in both sessions. “My impression is that we have options. We have to stay positive!”
“It all depends on getting the car and the tires in the right window,” says teammate Guanyu Zhou, whose crash in St. Devote in the first free practice session caused the only interruption of the weekend so far. “But that’s not easy. I really fought in FP1, but it was a bit better in FP2.”
Sauber wants to finally get rid of the red lantern in Formula 1
Having arrived with a lot of new parts, Sauber went back to the old specification in the second free practice session after Zhou’s crash as a precaution. In FP3, the Swiss will then be back on the road with the new parts and soft tires.
“We have a new concept here, a new generation of rear wings with which we should find additional performance,” said Alessandro Alunni Bravi in the team boss’ press conference. Instead of two pylons, the new wing is only mounted on one central pylon. The end plates are also no longer connected to the upper main element.
The first conclusion about the new pit stop equipment is positive. “We were good in Imola, we didn’t lose any positions in the pit lane,” praised the Sauber team representative. “We can now put the problems behind us and concentrate on other things!” For example, finally collecting the first points and no longer being last in the constructors’ championship.
Sauber actually wants to compete with Racing Bulls and Haas in the 2024 Formula 1 season. However, the two teams have already achieved 20 and 7 points respectively. Although things have not been going well for Haas in Monaco so far. Click here for the article.