Bottas Demands Major Overhaul: Can Sauber Team Catch Up in F1 2024?

Valtteri Bottas has called on the Sauber Formula 1 team to step up their game with 'bigger upgrades' as the team continues its pointless streak into the 2024 season, highlighted at the recent Canadian Grand Prix.

The Montreal race was another disappointment for Sauber, who once again found themselves finishing outside the points positions. This leaves them as the only team yet to score in the Constructors' Championship for the season. Facing another double Q1 elimination, the team made the strategic decision to start both cars from the pit lane, enabling them to alter their setups outside parc ferme conditions.

However, despite their efforts, Bottas finished 12th out of the 15 drivers who crossed the finish line. Discontent with the results, Bottas stressed that Sauber needs to focus on more significant updates to close the gap with their competitors.

'We need to keep making the car faster, we need to keep bringing upgrades,' said the 10-time race winner. 'There are some plans for future developments, but we need bigger upgrades and more of them. I think that’s the key, honestly.'

Bottas conceded that their relatively promising result was largely 'due to other cars making mistakes,' admitting that Sauber's pace isn't where it needs to be: 'pace-wise, we’re still not in the top 10 at the moment.'

Strategic Adjustments Amid Changing Conditions

Reflecting on the race, Bottas appreciated the decision to modify the car for higher downforce, believing it aided them amidst the fluctuating weather conditions.

'With the conditions we had today, it was probably the right thing to do: to try and adapt. I think it helped a bit; we had a bit more downforce,' said Bottas.

Team Struggles Continue

Meanwhile, team-mate Zhou Guanyu faced his own set of challenges. After crashing twice during practice, Zhou finished as the last classified runner and reported struggling mightily with his C44 car.

Expressing his frustrations, Zhou suspected underlying issues with his vehicle, noting that the team's headquarters in Hinwil would investigate potential car failures.

'It was another tough race. The pre-race changes didn’t really solve the issue,' commented Zhou. 'There was quite a bit going on, but for me, it was a bit of a lonely race, especially during the second stint, just driving alone.'

Zhou elaborated, 'Not the smoothest weekend, but we have something already planned at the factory to check if something was wrong with the car. This weekend, I just didn’t have much confidence in the car.'

Future Prospects

The Sauber team has a lot of soul-searching to do. With detailed plans and potential upgrades on the horizon, there’s hope that they might find the breakthrough needed to catch up. Whether this will be enough to secure points in the upcoming races remains to be seen.

The spotlight is on Sauber: can they pull off a midseason miracle, or will they continue to languish at the bottom of the standings? All eyes will be on their progress over the coming weeks as they strive to close the ever-widening gap with their F1 rivals.