The Sauber team will test a number of new products at Suzuka

The Sauber drivers are determined to make up for a poor performance in Melbourne in Suzuka, which was not their fault, but the Swiss team is still plagued by pit stop problems. It has prepared a number of new products for the Japanese Grand Prix, but their essence has not yet been revealed.

Valtteri Bottas: “It’s always great to race at Suzuka as it’s one of the most famous circuits on the calendar, and also my favourite. I have great memories: I won here (in 2019) and showed good results more than once.

But it’s not just about the song itself – few can match the passionate Japanese fans, so all the more I want to please them with a good show. This of course gives extra motivation.

If you remember the race in Australia, you are always angry when you don’t score points, especially because we showed there that we have potential and can finish in the top ten.

In any case, this is all in the past and now we have another chance to make amends, especially considering that our race pace is really encouraging. We know that the team continues to work hard to resolve the issues that arise during the pit stops, even as this work continues behind the scenes. But we hope we will see the results soon.

We are also preparing a number of technical innovations for the Japanese phase of the championship, so I am looking forward to working on track and hope we can make significant progress.”

Guanyu Zhou: “From a driver’s point of view, Suzuka is one of the best circuits and I am happy to race there. I am going to race for the third time on the legendary Japanese racing circuit – and I always remember the famous races of recent years that took place there, in which the fate of championship titles was often decided. As a child I saw all this on TV.

Japanese fans are a very special audience. They always support us warmly, not only from the stands, but also greet us outside the paddock, and this is felt not only by the drivers, but also by the team staff.

We want to perform as well as possible at this track, especially because the previous race in Melbourne did not go as we expected. But the team has regrouped and is determined to win back.

We understand that there is still a lot of work to be done, but the most important thing is that we showed good race pace in Australia and I am ready to do everything I can to get the most out of the car again. If we can start from a favorable position and avoid problems at the start, then we have a chance to fight for the points.”