Formula 1

Good Result for Sauber in Canada Still Tinged With Disappointment

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Sauber left Canada with six more points to add to they tally, courtesy of sixth place for Kamui Kobayashi, but the result was tinged with disappointment as they dream of what might have been had events played out differently.

Kobayashi and team-mate Pedro de la Rosa were running second and ninth respectively when the race was restarted after the two hour rain break. However, in the second part of the race, the Saubers were less competitive on the drying track, and both drivers went backwards. De la Rosa also damaged his front wing and finished twelfth, out of the points.

“We have scored points and in the end this is most important,” said Kobayashi. “We have proved we are good in the wet, but when the track became dry my pace wasn't good enough to defend my position. Originally I qualified 13th so then it is not bad to finish seventh, but on the other hand I started second after the long red flag and looking from there the result is disappointing. I really tried to bring the car home in a better position, but it didn't work out.”

De la Rosa explained why he finished so far back: “Just before the restart Jenson (Button) and I touched and I had to pit because of a damaged front wing,” said the Spaniard. “This ruined my race, I lost many positions, and I even lost a few more later when I got stuck in first gear. On top of that I lost time due to some backmarkers.

“I tried to recover from this as well as possible, but points were then out of reach. I must say it could have been a lot better today, but also the team made very good pit calls, so thanks for this. It was an extremely eventful race, especially for somebody who had just stepped into a car at short notice. I will not forget these days here, this is for sure.”

Peter Sauber, team principal, summed up the race from the team’s perspective: “This weekend started really badly for us with Sergio not being able to race for health reasons,” he said. “However, going into the race from P13 and P17 and scoring six points is quite an achievement we can be proud of. Nevertheless there is also a slight disappointment because after the re-start we hoped for more. But circumstances didn't help us. Congratulations to Kamui for a great race, and a big thank you to Pedro for all his efforts.”

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David is an occasional contributer to the site on matters related to Formula 1. You can follow him on twitter at @Dr_Bean.
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