Sauber are celebrating this afternoon in Barcelona after claiming a double points finish and the first points of his Formula 1 for Sergio Perez.
“It was a tough race today and a hard fight for points,” said the Mexican, who finished in ninth place. “I'm really happy we made it. My first points in Formula One are obviously something special for me, and it is good for the team that Kamui also scored.
The team had a very good race strategy and did a perfect job at the pit stops. I feel that for me today is a turning point in this season. We will continue well and score more points.”
Kamui Kobayashi was hampered by an early puncture, but recovered to finish tenth to continue his run of points scoring finishes.
“I lost a lot of time on lap one today,” explained the Japanese driver. “After the start I was pushed into the gravel and then another car touched me, which resulted in a left rear puncture. I had to pit and was relegated to last, which of course cost us a very good set of the soft tyres.
“I had to do quite a long stint on the harder tyres, which was not easy, but overall the race pace was okay. I'm happy to have scored for the fourth time in a row, and think we are going in the right direction.”
Peter Sauber congratulated both of his drivers, and the whole of his team, on their efforts, noting what an achievement it was to score points with both cars today.
“It is not easy in this very strong field to get points if you start 12th and 14th,” said the eponymous Team Principal. “Despite a puncture on Kamui's car, thanks to a good strategy we managed to get both cars into the top ten.
“Congratulations to Sergio for his first championship points, as after he lost those from Melbourne he has had to wait a while. Kamui has shown another good fight back from the tail end of the field.
“I am very happy the new aero package has had the effect that the gap to the top teams did not grow and the gap to those behind did not shrink. I want to send a thank you to Hinwil.”
