One of the teams called to answers starting from the Imola weekend was Sauber, which, like other teams, approached the first European stage of the season with the first important seasonal developments on board. Although it is still difficult to draw a balance sheet, the Hinwil-based team did not reap the desired results, once again finishing the Emilia Romagna GP out of the points. Complicating the weekend’s journey, explained team principal Alessandro Alunni Bravi, was a disappointing qualifying which relegated the cars to the rear.
PROGRESS: “FOR US, THE QUALIFICATIONS ARE THE REAL RACE”
“We knew that starting from the sixteenth and seventeenth position, we needed some particular circumstances to work in our favour.”
This is how Sauber team principal Alessandro Alunni Bravi began, highlighting how qualifying is one of the points to be settled in view of the next races. This factor proved to be quite a penalizing factor in Imola, as the track was not so easy for overtaking.
“We had a good pace on both compounds, especially compared to our direct competitors, but it wasn’t enough to gain further positions. Zhou drove an aggressive race, starting with hard tyres,” explained Alunni Bravi, specifying that an off-track exit in the duel with Ocon further compromised the situation.
A diversified strategy instead for Valtteri Bottas, but which still did not allow him to make big steps forward during a race that became complicated in the final stages:
“Unfortunately, the end of the race was difficult for him in terms of traction.” Although the Sauber team principal said he was satisfied with the overall pace, the balance cannot be positive due to qualifying, which, if it had gone differently, could have led to a better result:
“The group is very compact, and we saw that for us, qualifying is the real race:
“Any position we manage to gain on the starting grid will allow us to experience a different Sunday.”
A concept, the one linked to the flying lap, is also reiterated by Valtteri Bottas, who, however, does not want to see the glass half empty.
The Finn indeed said he was confident after the good sensations he felt on the technical developments front:
“In terms of updates, we made a small step forward here, and we could have achieved a little more of our potential in qualifying if had it not been for yesterday’s conditions.
“The home team is working hard to provide us with a new set of components, which should be implemented in the next races.”
In Imola, the Swiss team presented itself with a new track, and the increase in performance was positive.
The development program, so far, has allowed the C44 to maintain a similar gap to Red Bull since the beginning of the season. Above all, Sauber has gained a few tenths over Aston Martin – which closes the list of leading teams with which to fight for points – and it remained unchanged with the other teams that had already introduced updates
Only the Racing Bulls, engaged in an intense development program, has taken a bigger step, moving closer to Aston Martin and detaching itself a little from the lower-middle rankings.
The one that took place on the banks of the Santerno was a race for Sauber that did not offer ample opportunities for improvement, as highlighted by Guanyu Zhou, who relied on external factors to take a step forward:
“We hoped to take advantage of the safety car. Unfortunately, most of the cars adopted a similar one-stop strategy on a track where overtaking is difficult, and without any major incidents, we were unable to get close to the points. We still have to get something more in terms of pace and performance.”
XAVI PUJOLAR: “POSITIVE THAT WE CAN FIGHT AGAIN IN THE PIT STOPS”
Sauber also received some improvements at Imola aimed at fixing pit stop problems. This proved punishing in the first races of the season due to a problem linked to their equipment.
Sauber’s Racing Director is satisfied with their initial progress:
“We also had a floor upgrade, which was another big step, and it also responded as we expected.”
A series of developments, however, does not hide the need to continue working closely, given the intense battle in the centre of the group also from the point of view of the technicians’ work. Meanwhile, Pujolar’s hope is that the problem in the pits is being resolved so as to fix a further piece in the chase for the points zone:
“Not only do we want to be safe in the pit stops, but we want to be at the top of our performance during the break so as to also give the crew the confidence to push harder.”
Meanwhile, the first positive responses have been obtained for Imola: For the first time in the season, the team did not have any stops longer than 3.5 seconds and managed to get below 3 seconds.
