The Sauber F1 Team left the Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday without adding to their 2015 points total despite both Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr having strong pace throughout the race in the desert.
Nasr lost a handful of positions on the opening lap, but was running competitively during the race before a loss of power cost him valuable time that ultimately saw him finish outside the points in twelfth.
“It was a difficult first lap for me as I got squeezed in turn 1, so I lost a few positions,” said Nasr. “Afterwards I got stuck in traffic, which compromised my race pace during the whole first stint.
“In the course of the race I lost power for several laps, which made us loose ground. On the positive side of things, I was quite satisfied with our lap times on the medium compound.
“Overall, I think we could have scored points if we would have had a clean race. It is a shame not to have them.”
Ericsson had a good start in Bahrain, and was running competitively inside the top ten and on course for his third points finish of the season when a problem with the left front wheel during his pit stop cost him almost half a minute and left him languishing down in fourteenth at the finish.
“I had a really good start into the race,” insisted Ericsson. “On the first lap I moved up from 13th to ninth. In the first and second stints our lap times were quite strong, keeping up with our direct competitors.
“We were running as planned, but then unfortunately we had the mistake during the second pit stop due to a mechanical problem that came up when the crew changed the left front wheel. Of course, it is very disappointing, but sometimes this happens in racing. We win together, and we lose together.
“After that our race was extremely compromised. However, I still tried to do my best and during the rest of the race my pace was good. All in all, we showed a reasonable performance and this is what counts for the next race in
Barcelona.”
