The KICK Sauber team will start from 18th and 20th on the grid at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which gets underway tomorrow at 19:00 CET. It was a difficult and unlucky qualifying session for the Swiss team. Hülkenberg attempted to reach Q2, but a front-left lock-up in Turn 1 dashed all hopes. Gabriel Bortoleto had an even more complicated session, picking up a plastic bag that forced him into an extra pit stop, followed by a spin on his final lap. Below are the drivers’ post-qualifying impressions along with those of Sauber Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley.
“This wasn’t the qualifying we were hoping for. I locked the front wheel and ran wide at Turn 1 during my final lap in Q1. I truly believe we had the potential to reach Q2. The margins are so tight that everything has to come together perfectly. We’ll have to analyse exactly what happened because the lock-up felt a bit unusual,” Nico Hülkenberg admitted.
“I also braked slightly earlier because I felt the front tyres weren’t quite ready like they were the lap before. Even then, I didn’t get the bite or deceleration from the brakes I expected.” On tomorrow’s race: “Starting position is obviously not ideal, but we’ll face the challenge and do our best to get the most out of it. We’ll need some action ahead of us and a smart strategy to move forward,” he concluded.
Gabriel Bortoleto’s comments
“First of all, I want to thank the team for the hard work they did in changing the chassis and getting the car ready in time for today. Unfortunately, qualifying was frustrating for me. After a decent first push lap, I couldn’t put together a clean lap. On the second attempt, I picked up a plastic bag, which forced me to box so it could be removed,” he admitted.
“Then, on the third attempt, I was a bit too optimistic with Max [Verstappen]’s tow, missed the braking point, and spun. We’re always pushing to the limit, doing everything possible to reach Q2, but I made a mistake and it didn’t work out today. Missing FP2 and yesterday’s long runs certainly didn’t help us, and tomorrow will likely be a challenging race, but we’ll give our best and try to learn as much as possible about the car’s behaviour,” the Brazilian concluded.
Jonathan Wheatley eyes the challenge
“In the end, we’re a bit frustrated by today’s qualifying session because we were confident about getting into Q2. Both drivers had problems at Turn 1, with Nico unable to get the braking he expected and going off at Turn 2, while Gabriel had significant tow speed and ultimately lost the car at Turn 2. In addition, due to a braking issue, we lost the car at Turn 2.”
“Also, missing FP2 yesterday meant Gabriel didn’t get the necessary laps to put together a clean run on such a challenging street circuit like Jeddah. So now we regroup, grow stronger, learn from what happened, and get ready to fight tomorrow. Lastly, but no less importantly, I want to thank the team for the huge effort it took to prepare Gabriel’s car for FP3 and today’s qualifying after the fuel leak forced us to change the monocoque,” he concluded.
Leave a Reply