Bottas and Guanyu: “Improvements since Zandvoort” | FP

Points zone always far away

Sixteen races, but still zero points achieved in the Constructors’ standings for the Sauberalso in difficulty on the circuit of Monza in the last weekend valid for the Italian Grand Prix. The Swiss manufacturer, which had also brought some new features for the appointment in the ‘Temple of Speed’, still failed to get close to the top 10 with either Valtteri Bottas or Zhou Guanyu.

One-stop strategy

The Finn, historically at ease on the Brianza circuit, admitted that there has been no evident progress of the C44 in terms of pace, aggravated by a strategic choice that has not borne fruit: “We opted for a one-stop strategy – he explained after the 16th place – starting on the hard compound, to try something different and hope to get lucky with the timing of a potential Safety Car. Unfortunately It didn’t go well for us, but I think it was a good thing to try. Looking at how the race went, I wouldn’t have done anything differently: we gained a few positions on the track, arriving at P16 on merit, but it was really the best we could do. We haven’t made much progress in terms of pace.our weekend started well, but we couldn’t keep up the momentum or improve much: however, it was definitely a better weekend than Zandvoort. We have a lot of work ahead of us to take a further step forward, which is what we will do in view of the next back-to-back in Baku and Singapore.”

Progress from Zandvoort

A comment similar to that of his teammate Zhou Guanyu, 18th at the finish line ahead of Stroll’s Aston Martin and with few positive points to take into account: “Our pace wasn’t strong enough to fight for points, especially in a quiet race, without any interruptions or big shocks. – added the Chinese – although Our pace has clearly improved compared to last weekend in Zandvoort, we are at a disadvantage in terms of performance compared to our direct competitors. We have seen an improvement in single-lap pace this weekend, but it is clear that we need to find the car’s strong point and execute a flawless weekend to get the best possible result. Rather than rely on luck, our goal as a team is to put our heads down and keep working hard to find those crucial few tenths of a second that will bring us closer to the top ten.”