The Sauber team is preparing for the Austrian weekend, which will include a sprint, in the hope that it can finally start earning points, especially since there are already certain signs of progress.
Alessandro Aluni Bravi, team spokesperson: “We go to Spielberg expecting to continue the progress we saw encouraging signs of during qualifying in Barcelona. Although we did not earn any points in Spain, we have at least gained confidence in our abilities and are determined to work hard to get back into the top ten.
The technical innovations recently introduced are helping things move forward, and this week we plan to look for fine-tuning the car.
The stage on the Red Bull Ring circuit has been on the championship calendar for ten years and can already be considered a ‘modern classic’. The riders have studied this circuit well, but next weekend there is also a sprint, the third of the season, so there is only one training on Friday and immediately afterwards there is the qualifying for the sprint.
That is why it is important to do everything as correctly as possible so that we are ready to take advantage of any opportunity that arises.”
Valtteri Bottas: “I’ve been enjoying racing in Austria since the race was back on the calendar, so I’m looking forward to it. The Red Bull Ring has an excellent circuit with fast corners and elevation changes, and the circuit is located in a very scenic area.
The battle on this track is particularly intense; there are many sections where overtaking is possible, so an interesting race awaits us. I was able to show good results more than once in Austria, including winning twice and being on the podium five more times. It was there in 2014 that I finished in the top three for the first time – I can’t even believe it was ten years ago!
If we remember Barcelona, our form there was already better than in previous stages, but we still have to work to get back into the top ten. Because the Austrian stage includes a sprint, it is important to immediately get a comfortable feeling behind the wheel and then increase the pace.”
Guanyu Zhou: “We return to Spielberg, which is good, because in recent years racing at this track has been a pleasure for me, so I expect an interesting weekend.
The Austrian circuit has unique features: it is short, there are not many turns and they are preceded by intense braking zones – all this contributes to fierce competition on the track. Because there are few turns, this also means that the result in qualifying largely depends on the correct execution of each of these turns.
We are preparing for the race weekend, I am in a fighting mood and already want to get to work on the track as soon as possible. The whole team understands that even one tenth can have a significant impact on qualifying results, and when the weekend program includes a sprint this is even more important.
We have to stay focused and try to give the best of ourselves all weekend, both on and off the track.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
