Bottas surprises: “The race remains the best session of the weekend” | FP

Always at zero

The dark period that the world is facing knows no respite. Sauber from this start of the championship, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu never reaching the points zone in the first eleven races of the season. Further confirmation also came on the occasion of the Austrian Grand Prixwith the Finnish driver 16th in the rankings right in front of his teammate.

Not all negative

Yet, analyzing the race at the Red Bull Ring, for the former Mercedes there are also positive aspects to take into consideration in view of the next appointments, where the Swiss team will try to interrupt the ‘curse’ of races outside the top-10: “Despite everything, I believe that this race was our best session of the weekend – has indicated – there wasn’t much action where I was but pace-wise it felt a bit better than the Sprint, which meant we were a bit closer to our main competitors. We also managed to keep the tyres in a better window, which definitely helped, although they are still quite sensitive to overheating at these temperatures. We still need to find that extra push for Silverstone: obviously we’re not just looking for a short-term solution, but It’s positive to see that the gaps remain small. I think the direction to follow is clear: we need to move forward with the introduction of new components, of course, because we have seen the difference they have made for other teams. Looking at Silverstoneon a different track, I think there will be opportunities for us: the important thing will be to be at the top to make the most of them”.

Comeback hindered by pace

A race that started immediately uphill for Guanyu Zhouforced to leave from pit lane due to some changes made before the start, and then hit by Alonso at turn 3, which cost the Spaniard a 10-second penalty and two points on his license: “It was a tough weekend for us, with a pretty quiet race for me. – explained the Chinese #24 – due to some set-up changes that took us in a different direction, I had to start today’s race from the pit lane. Unfortunately, we lacked the pace to recover other positions and it seems that our tyres heat up quicker than those of our rivals, even though we were able to manage them better today. We know our weak points and we need to work hard as a team, both on track and in Hinwil, to improve our pace on the lap and in the race. It is the last round of the triple header and there is no time to rest for next weekend. It is not uncommon to experience different performances on different circuits, so I hope that in Silverstone we will be close to fighting for points again.”