The Sauber F1 Team are pleased that both of their cars have made it into the last part of qualifying for a Formula One race for the first time since the 2013 US Grand Prix.
The team’s driver pairing of Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson will start in ninth and tenth respectively showing just how much the car has evolved since this time last year were they were seriously struggling for one-lap and race long pace.
Nasr’s final lap time of 1:38.067 put him nine-hundredths ahead of his Swedish team mate, and is pleased that he has a good platform to start on for the race: “It is a great day for the team being able to have both cars in Q3. We seem to have the cars back on the pace we expected to have here. Therefore, I am confident for the race tomorrow. Hopefully we can get back into the points, and I will do my best to finish the race in the top ten.”
For Ericsson, his tenth place is 1.4 seconds better than the time he logged in FP3 – which put him 13th – and he is hoping his Sauber can keep going strong in tomorrow’s race: “It is a great achievement for the whole team to get both cars into Q3 – for the race team as well as everyone back at the factory in Hinwil. This weekend has been extremely tight as the lap times are quite close. Felipe and I put in good performances today and placed the cars in a promising position for tomorrow. It will be an exciting race, and I think, we have good chances for another positive day.”
