Formula 1 team Sauber recognizes a “positive development” after the first race of the 2024 season without a pit stop breakdown: Will the first world championship points soon follow?
The relief at Sauber is huge: “After three races with problems at the pit stops, we can see a positive development,” says team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi. At the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, his team completed all tire changes “without any problems”. And that had been the minimum target for Sauber.
“Of course, our aim at the moment is not to maximize speed, but rather the consistency and reliability of our stops,” explains Alunni Bravi. “We have achieved that.”
There is also recognition for the pit crew from Sauber chief engineer Xevi Pujolar: “If you look at where we were one, two or three races ago, then I was satisfied with our pit stops.”
Yes, the Formula 1 competition sometimes has faster tire changes. That is a fact. “But we are working on it,” says Pujolar. “And overall, it can be said that we have made great progress. Because our stops were not a disaster, but reliable.” And only when this trend is confirmed and can be consistently established, “then it’s about speed and performance,” says Pujolar.
Bottas’ race pace shows upward trend at Sauber
And then perhaps world championship points will also be within reach for the Formula 1 team from Switzerland. After all, they thought they were close in Japan. Alunni Bravi speaks of a “serious chance of points” for Valtteri Bottas, who showed a “really solid race”: “He was ahead of Tsunoda before the second stop, and he later finished in the points.”
That’s not enough for Sauber at the moment. The team knows its “current limits”, assures Alunni Bravi. “We already knew that we would fall behind again, but we can take comfort in the fact that our race pace was equal to or even better than Magnussen’s, even though Valtteri was stuck behind him for the rest of the race and couldn’t attack.”
In fact, Bottas finished the Grand Prix in the slipstream of Haas driver Magnussen: Just 0.974 seconds separated the duo as they crossed the finish line after 53 laps of racing at Suzuka.
Strategically, Sauber still has room for improvement
What Bottas takes away from this race? “Definitely” a lot of positive things. The first half of the race in particular felt “pretty good” in the car because the Sauber C44 had developed a “good pace”.
But then the strategy didn’t work out: Bottas does not agree with the second stop. The team would have to “reconsider” the timing of this afterwards. Sauber had brought Bottas in at the same time as the competition brought in their drivers. “And that’s when we fell behind the others,” says Bottas.
He therefore suggests a different tactic for future scenarios of this kind: “We could have extended the stint and then had a clear run, because the pace was there. And then we could have been where Yuki is now.” In other words: P10 and therefore in the points
Still “one step” short of the points
But according to Bottas, what is not yet is still possible. Sauber “definitely has more pace” than P14 and was faster than in previous races. “That is good. Because we were definitely able to keep up with Racing Bulls and the other teams in terms of race pace. So it’s getting better and better,” says Bottas.
For chief engineer Pujolar, however, the result shows above all that Sauber’s current form is not yet good enough to be a points contender on its own: “We need one more step so that everything fits together.”
Nevertheless, the drivers were “very satisfied” with the latest updates to the C44. For the Japanese Grand Prix, Sauber had given its race car a modified underbody, among other things.
More updates for the Sauber C44 announced
Here team representative Alunni Bravi wants to keep up the pressure: “With every upgrade that comes from Hinwil, we improve our performance. And we know that we are heading in the right direction.”
Because development is expressly progressing “well”, the updates are working on the track and “our pit stops are getting better and better”, Sauber could soon be aiming for world championship points. But to achieve this, the team must “throw everything into the balance”, says Alunni Bravi.
“And we have to keep our self-confidence: We are getting closer from race to race and see that our pace can keep up with our direct competitors.”
After four races without points so far this season, it is therefore important for Chief Engineer Pujolar to “seize our opportunities soon”. Just like Racing Bulls driver Tsunoda in Japan. “He is certainly our reference at the moment,” says Pujolar. “He’s the man we want to beat.”
