It was another difficult weekend for the Sauber F1 Team drivers. However; the highlight for them was thanks to Felipe Nasr, who managed a tough Monaco Grand Prix to claim two points around the streets of the principality.
Nasr had most of the success for the team having finished ninth. Afterwards, he commented saying; “It was a great race, and I am happy to have scored points again. It is an amazing feeling being rewarded after such a difficult weekend.” Nasr had gone with a two stop strategy, pitting after 18 laps on the supersofts, before switching back to them on lap 64.
He went on to say; “It was an exhausting race, as I did my best to extract the most out of the car. The team did a very good job by choosing the correct strategy and calling me in for the pit stops at the right times. The points are for everyone in the team.”
While team principle Monisha Kaltenborn praised the Brazilians performance. “An encouraging result, especially when you take into account how the weekend had gone up to the race. Felipe drove a good race. In Monaco you need to drive intelligently and be patient while waiting for chances. This is what he has done.” Kaltenborn went on to praise the performance of the staff at the circuit and back at Hinwil.
Meanwhile team mate Marcus Ericsson failed to score for the third race in succession. “Finishing thirteenth is disappointing, but starting from seventeenth we knew that it was going to be a difficult race.” Ericsson spent most of the race fighting with the Williams Martini Racing cars and beat Valterri Bottas by 14.6 seconds at the line.
“We need to analyse the data to get a better understanding.” said the Swedish driver. “Then we can learn from it and do better next time. In general the balance of the car felt good, and I think at some points during the race the pace was quite strong.”
Despite the result, Sauber remain fifth in the constructors with 21 points, four points ahead of nearest rivals Sahara Force India.