F1 | Sauber in crisis: work is underway to bring innovations to Budapest

The British Grand Prix has provided many verdicts, especially among the midfield teams. While Haas, Aston and Williams have had a positive weekend, the same cannot be said for Racing Bulls and Sauber, two teams that, curiously, share the same difficulties in the high-speed sections.

However, if for the Faenza team it seems to be a phase linked to a very complicated triptych and not suitable for VCARB01, on the other hand the same cannot be said for the Swiss team that, after a good start to the championship in which on some occasions it found itself fighting for points, with the continuation of the season finds itself in a complex and stingy period not only in results, but also in performance.

At Silverstone, Williams scored two more points that could prove crucial in terms of the standings, while Sauber is still last with zero points. The Swiss team, despite itself, was unable to counter the growth of its rivals, remaining at the back of the table on several occasions, but not only on tracks that are potentially unsuitable for the C45, but also on tracks that, on paper, should have come close to the car’s strong points.

The hope was to be able to score some points in the events with lots of medium or low speed corners, such as Monaco or Montreal, where the C45 has generally shown some more quality. However, even in that case the car showed some limitations already highlighted last year, such as excessive sensitivity to bumps in the asphalt or the little margin to attack the kerbs.

In an attempt to find an answer to the engineers’ doubts, the team used the free practice sessions of the Silverstone weekend as a sort of testing ground, so much so that in the first FP Guanyu Zhou was also heard talking on several occasions about the fact that the car was jumping in the corners, taking away confidence. In this case, two elements clash: on the one hand, the need to keep the car low to generate downforce from the bottom, while on the other, the fact that excessive rigidity to find that downforce makes the car even more difficult to drive.

Although the team managed the tactical calls well with Valtteri Bottas, while with Guanyu Zhou they went for a much more aggressive approach with nothing to lose, which, however, did not pay off, both cars were not even close to being able to fight for the top ten.

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber C44

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“It was definitely not an easy day on slicks in the wet. But I think we made the right choices: we didn’t make any unnecessary pit stops. But, in any condition, today we didn’t have the pace to fight with the cars in front. This is what we need to continue working on and develop new parts, hopefully as soon as possible.”

Regardless of the Grand Prix result, taking a step back to qualifying, that session highlighted even more clearly all the difficulties of the C45 in the fast sections, especially those of the second sector, where a good part of the gap that then excluded Zhou in Q2 was accumulated. If you make a comparison with the Haas, for example, at Copse the gap is a good 6 km/h: the problem is that that performance delta remains until the entrance to the fast sequence.

What is even more impressive, however, is that in the first part of the same fast sequence, the Chinese driver is forced to lift his foot off the accelerator in a section that, generally speaking, is always taken flat out. In this case, the gap from Haas doubles, rising to a good 12 km/h: however, even against Racing Bulls, a team that does not make fast corners a strong point, there is a difference in performance that is difficult to sew up, given that it stands at around 8 km/h. Despite this more cautious approach, at the end of the fast sequence the problems become evident, as well as in turn six, where the C45 was among the slowest cars of the lot.

Telemetry comparison between Zhou and Hulkenberg – Q2 Silverstone

Photo by: Gianluca D’Alessandro

While it is clear that the Swiss car was not designed to give its best in high-speed sections, so much so that the team was forced to carry out tests on the track with the fastest corners, on the other hand it is essential to take a step forward that can allow Sauber not only to find a more effective car, but also a more consistent one. There is not only a problem of load, but also of how that load is used in the corners, which is inconsistent on an aerodynamic level. These difficulties make it clear that new updates need to be produced quickly.

“We have new updates coming, hopefully in Budapest, but it’s not guaranteed. This is what we need. Everyone is making steps forward. Haas was a good example this weekend, they made a decent step forward with the new bodywork and a new floor,” Bottas explained.

Last year, in Hungary, Sauber had one of its best qualifying performances of the season, where it managed to score a double top ten even ahead of Ferrari. However, in the race the dream vanished in a few seconds, given an unmemorable start. However, for this season, given the problems encountered up to this point in the championship, the forecasts do not seem to be as optimistic, at least not enough to fight for points: “It is difficult to say whether we will go like last year. We have seen significant changes in performance depending on the tracks. I struggle to make a prediction, I hope so, but it is difficult to make promises,” the Finn then said.

“Obviously the reality is that this year we have a completely different car to last season, with different problems. With the weak points we have at the moment, I don’t think the weekend will be as good as last year. I think it should be similar to Barcelona. We are not fast enough to fight for points,” Zhou explained.