It was another tough day on track for the Sauber F1 Team, with race drivers Esteban Gutierrez and Adrian Sutil being unable to find the pace that will enable them to be competitive in Abu Dhabi this weekend. The team are looking to score their first points of 2014 to prevent the first point-less season in the Teams’ history.
Gutierrez felt he had a encouraging day on track, ending the two sessions fourteenth and fifteenth respectively, but still feels the team are lacking some pace that will see them struggle in the longer runs this weekend.
“It was a positive day,” said Gutierrez. “Finally we were able to do both practice sessions. I think it was quite productive, although we do not have the pace we would like to have.
“It looks pretty tough for the long runs. We need to find the best way to improve our lap times.”
In the other side of the garage, team-mate Sutil was less content with his day, after sitting out the first session to allow Chinese driver Adderly Fong to make his debut, and then having braking issues early in the second session that affected his running. He feels melancholic with the German driver still looking for the ideal set-up for his car with just free practice to come ahead of the important qualifying session.
“Unfortunately, I missed the first early afternoon free practice session,” said Sutil. “At the beginning of FP2 we had to replace the front brake discs. These are obviously not ideal preparations. That’s the way it is at the moment, and we have to make the best out of it.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us and, furthermore, I did not have an optimal feeling in the car.”
