Among the most compelling stories from the Qatar Grand Prix was undoubtedly Sauber’s return to the points for the first time this season. The latest technical updates, especially the floor introduced during the Las Vegas weekend, finally brought clear performance improvements, allowing Zhou Guanyu to secure his first points of the championship and ending a 27-race drought.
It is no secret that Sauber’s 2024 season has fallen short of expectations, primarily due to challenges in keeping pace with rivals in development. Early in the season, plagued by pit stop issues in races where points were within reach, the team struggled to deliver updates.
Some development resources were redirected to address pit stop problems at the start of the year, yielding excellent results—Sauber now ranks among the fastest in this area. However, this does not mean the team wasn’t working diligently behind the scenes.
The New Floor Delivered Downforce and Stability
Like Alpine, another team that delayed major updates until later in the season due to early problems, Sauber made significant progress with their latest major package introduced during the American leg of the calendar. Alongside fine-tuning suspension systems for better aerodynamic and mechanical grip—bridging toward 2025—the standout improvement came from the new floor.
“The floor debuted in Las Vegas has made a difference. It allowed us to take a step forward, and on a track like Qatar, it seems to be helpful,” said Valtteri Bottas during the Qatar weekend. The new floor provided not only more overall downforce but also greater consistency through various cornering phases.
Previously, the car suffered from evident performance and drivability issues. Drivers frequently complained about the C44 being challenging to handle and overly sensitive to external factors, including wind. The car also struggled on bumpy surfaces, which explained its difficulties at tracks like Singapore.
In Qatar, with its smooth asphalt free of bumps, the car could stay lower to the ground, generating more downforce from the floor itself—a crucial factor on a track like Lusail, rich in fast corners that the C44 traditionally struggled with. While the car showed improved competitiveness in qualifying in these sections, race performance shifted when tire management came into play. According to team data, the third sector, featuring ultra-high-speed corners, remained the most challenging, with the car performing better in the first two sectors.
“With the new floor, we’ve seen improvements in terms of downforce, which is now more consistent. Given how tight the grid is, every little detail helps. Theoretically, this new package should provide a three-tenths-per-lap improvement, which is significant on such a close grid,” Bottas added, highlighting how these upgrades enhanced both competitiveness and drivability.
As Racing Director Xevi Pujolar explained, this latest package also allowed Zhou to regain sensitivity and confidence in driving the C44, whereas with the older configuration, he struggled to extract the car’s full potential and was more affected by its limitations than Bottas.
Being in the Mix to Capitalize on Opportunities
While the C44’s issues are not entirely resolved, the team has taken a step in the right direction, particularly since recent updates are laying the groundwork for the 2025 car. The performance improvements have allowed Sauber to re-enter the midfield pack, positioning the team to capitalize on opportunities, as seen in Qatar.
During the Lusail race, after contact with Liam Lawson on lap five, Bottas was used as a test case for the other car. “We had doubts about how the hard tires would perform, so we pitted him early to gather information for Zhou. Then, the Safety Car changed everything, but we wanted to maximize any chance of getting a car into the points,” Pujolar said.
Factors such as Haas’s early pit stop with Kevin Magnussen, the mid-race Safety Car enabling a “free” pit stop, and the unexpected exits of top drivers like Lando Norris and Sergio Perez played key roles. Without these, scoring points would have been much harder.
However, Zhou’s competitive pace in the final stint was crucial in holding off Magnussen’s Haas and securing an excellent eighth place. This was precisely the goal Sauber aimed for with the latest updates—not only to improve and set a foundation for next year but also to be in the mix to seize every opportunity.
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