Sauber hopes that they can finally start earning points

The Sauber team is showing some progress, the signs of which were clear during qualifying in Melbourne, where Valtteri Bottas went into the second session full of confidence and eventually achieved the 13th fastest time. His partner, Guanyu Zhou, was capable of similar speeds, but he was unlucky: while attacking the curb he damaged the front wing of his car and finished only 19th.

Alessandro Aluni Bravi, team representative: “Today we can see that the team is already handling qualifications better. One of our cars managed to qualify for the second session and this result better reflects the current potential of the C44 compared to previous stages.

In the first two qualifying sessions of the season we couldn’t make it happen, but today Valtteri confirmed the car’s potential thanks to his good performance: he made no mistakes and achieved 13th place.

Unfortunately, Zhou’s performance was affected by the fact that he damaged his front wing when he attacked a high curb at the exit of Turn 10. This broke the main plane of the wing and ruined the final attempt.

But Guanyu can ride at about the same pace as Valtteri, so I assume he could also reach the second session.

The team’s work gives reasons for optimism, but we still need to work on the fine-tuning, and this can also allow us to better realize the car’s potential. At the beginning of the weekend we were hampered by some difficulties, but let’s hope that this can be avoided in the future and we can fight for the points without having to depend on the problems of our rivals.

In tomorrow’s race a lot depends on the work with the rubber, because we see that the granulation has a significant impact on the race pace, especially on the front tires. That is why you have to choose the right tactics and work together, be prepared for possible scenarios and try not to miss opportunities.”

Valtteri Bottas (13th): “For the first time this season we managed to qualify for the second part of qualifying and this is obviously a positive moment, especially in Australia where starting position is very important. Since we start tomorrow closer to the top ten, that should allow us to fight for positions and hopefully score a few points.

I feel like the team as a whole has taken a small step forward, and with results being so tight, even small improvements can help move things forward. Thanks to the redesigned front wing, both balance and grip have been improved, and overall we can see that the car’s performance has improved compared to the previous two rounds of the season.

I’m looking forward to racing tomorrow in front of a grandstand full of great Australian fans. It’s great to feel the love and support from the audience and it always gives me extra strength.

The race in Melbourne is usually very interesting, many exciting events can take place on the track and I intend to give everything to satisfy the fans with a good performance.”

Guanyu Zhou (19th): “Today’s qualifying was not easy. My final lap started well, but in sector three I felt a noticeable drop in downforce and then realized I had lost part of my front wing.

It’s a shame that this happened because I feel like I can move on to the second part of qualifying with confidence. Now I will have to regain more positions during the race than I expected to enter into a points battle. Although I’ve had some bad luck in qualifying lately, our car has good racing speed and you never know what can happen on this track…”