Clean with a big update Last and penultimate: “End result is no different”

(Motorsport-Total.com) – It’s the last rebellion against the red lantern, albeit probably an ineffective one: Sauber has once again diligently upgraded for the final spurt in the Formula 1 World Championship and is in Austin with four major updates to the C44 opened:

In addition to a completely new front wing, the Swiss have also introduced a revised front wheel suspension, as well as new panels for the upper wishbones on the rear axle and modified air baffles in the same place. Alone: ​​A look at the time list reveals nothing good for the team from Hinwil on Friday in Texas.

Places 18 and 20 in training, and 19 and 20 in sprint qualifying, are just another revelation from the future Audi factory team: “Qualifying today was quite difficult because the wind increased and affected my consistency,” explains Valtteri Bottas , who also noticed: “The end result looks no different than in recent races.”

But Bottas, who would also like to stay in the team next year and has recently not tired of emphasizing his skills as a developer and motivator when promoting himself, is now practicing the latter discipline: “But the feeling in the car has improved,” says the Finn with a view to the new parts: “The updates brought for this race have put us in a better position and we are closer to the competition.”

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It is still unclear whether Valtteri Bottas will still be in the clean in 2025 zoom

In Bottas’ case, that means “only” 94 thousandths behind Williams driver Alex Albon in the sprint qualifying on Friday. However, the Thai-Brit does a flawless 360-degree turn; representation is not his time. The almost three tenths that Bottas ranks 19th are more realistic. Nevertheless, they are still missing for promotion to the next round.

However, these are still fantastic numbers when you compare them with those of team-mate Guanyu Zhou: In the last few meters of his career in the premier class, the Chinese is proving less and less suitable for F1 and is always lagging behind the rest of the field, even in Austin: In SQ1 even on Bottas it’s 1.3 seconds, in the previous training it was even just two.

Zhou: Technology, track limits and a lot of frustration

To his credit, Zhou later adds: “It was a very difficult day right from the start, with some technical problems that cost us some track time, which meant we were only able to do a few laps in the first training session. “We can’t afford that on a sprint weekend,” says the Chinese angrily: “We also knew that the day would be hard.”

The cancellation of his best lap time in SQ1 makes it even harder for him, as Zhou reveals: “On this attempt I was only half a tenth behind Valtteri,” explains the Sauber driver, who still knows: “That still wouldn’t have been enough to get out “It’s frustrating when you feel like you’re getting the most out of the car, close to your teammate, and yet we’re both at the back of the field.”

Bottas demands: “We have to find more stability. The plan is also to fine-tune the set-up tomorrow after the sprint for Sunday, with the aim of doing a little more tomorrow and putting ourselves in a better position for the race.” A single improvement in position would do that in the last The series is already enough, but the grapes still seem to hang too high for Sauber, even with the fresh updates…