Formula 1

Marussia Aiming for Sauber as F1 arrives in Germany

2 Mins read

The Marussia F1 Team continue to make positive strides as they aim to move away from the rear of the Formula 1 field. At Silverstone two weeks ago, the team had their best ever qualifying session, with Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton both progressing comfortably into the second part of qualifying, and eventually qualifying twelfth and thirteenth.

The race was not as strong, but they maintained their ninth in the Constructors Championship ahead of Sauber and Caterham, and heading into Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix this weekend, they hope to continue their positive 2014 season.

For Bianchi, he has good memories of Hockenheim, having won previously at the track in junior categories. It will be his first time in an F1 car at the circuit, but he is hopeful of a strong qualifying to mix it with the bigger teams once again like at Silverstone.

“I have always enjoyed the Hockenheimring, having raced here in the junior formulae and with good memories of having won there much earlier in my career,” said Bianchi. “The target is a little different for this weekend, but having made it into Q2 at Silverstone, we are hoping to show that we are even closer to Sauber, hopefully with another good qualifying.

“We had a positive test at Silverstone and I hope this will help us to have two strong races before we head into the summer break.”

Team-mate Chilton also enjoyed his best qualifying of his career at Silverstone but after a gearbox penalty wasn’t able to start P13. The Briton was lucky to avoid a flying tyre off of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari on the opening lap, and was on the back foot from there on in as his car was damaged from the debris. He arrives in Germany confident the team have progressed and is hoping to demonstrate that again at Hockenheim.

“It will be good to be back in the car again in Germany, where I hope we’ll see some of the benefit of a really good test at Silverstone last week,” said Chilton. “I really like the Hockenheimring. It’s quite a challenging track and one you can really attack and have some fun with.

“We demonstrated at the last race that we continue to make good progress, particularly in qualifying, so we’re hoping for more of the same this weekend.”

Marussia Team Principal John Booth is hoping the positive test after the British Grand Prix at Silverstone brings the team that little bit closer to Sauber who they feel are a genuine aim to stay ahead this season. He is delighted how the first half of the season has gone for the team, and is looking for a strong German Grand Prix this weekend.

“We’ve had a busy time since the British Grand Prix, firstly with our two days of testing at Silverstone, and subsequently, analysing a significant amount of data gathered there, in a bid to continue our current rate of improvement over these next two races,” said Booth. “It’s hard to believe that we have reached the halfway point of the season already as we head to Germany. The last nine rounds have flown by but we have plenty of progress to show for it and I’m very pleased that we continue to hold 9th place in the Constructors’ Championship.

“I hope we can demonstrate that we have further developed the MR03 over the past few weeks and gained a little more on the Saubers.”

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