Sauber Struggles Persist: Bottas Calls for Urgent and Major Upgrades
Jun.11 - Sauber needs to bring "more" and "bigger" upgrades to the next Formula 1 races, according to Valtteri Bottas.
The Finn appears to have basically accepted that he will not be included in the driver lineup from 2025, with Nico Hulkenberg already signed up and team figures pushing hard for Carlos Sainz to accept a long and lucrative offer.
In the meantime, as the Swiss team prepares for its future as Audi's works team, the existing setup appears to be almost stagnant and floundering - and is now the only outfit on the 2024 grid yet to score a single point.
"There is no improvement in sight," agrees veteran F1 journalist Roger Benoit, who covers Sauber's progress in detail for the Swiss newspaper Blick.
"The C44 is by far the slowest car in the circus," he added. "The many upgrades don't really help at all - or the rivals' developments are simply better."
Indeed, during Sunday's Canadian GP, the laptimes were so slow that both Bottas and Guanyu Zhou underwent mid-race rear wing setup changes.
"It was right that we tried something," Bottas is quoted by the Finnish broadcaster MTV. "We got a little more grip.
"But the car needs more pace. Upgrade packages are needed," the 34-year-old added.
"The team has some plans, but we need bigger upgrade packages. And more of them. That is the key now," he said.
100 percent Audi-owned Sauber, however, appears more focused on the future. The team has now announced that former Red Bull and McLaren engineer Stefano Sordo has signed up as the "team builds up to Audi F1 entry in 2026".
"With the different array of roles he played in the past, he is perfectly placed to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of our technical operations, and address what is required," said Sauber CEO Andreas Seidl.
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Sauber has been the only point-less team since the Chinese GP & they indeed need something quickly to get out of this trend.
Bottas may still have a small chance as a backup option's backup, i.e., after Ocon, but either Sainz or Ocon will most likely become Hulkenberg's teammate.
The rear wing setup changes, of course, got done beforehand, which led to pit lane starts, with CE & ES allocation exceedings also a cause for Bottas, although Zhou was especially slow in the race, getting lapped by every other driver who finished the race, & somehow managed to briefly get two laps behind the leading drivers.