Despite qualifying on the penultimate row of the grid on Saturday, the Sauber F1 Team saw both drivers finish inside the top eleven at the Hungaroring on Sunday, with Marcus Ericsson securing a point in tenth, just ahead of team-mate Felipe Nasr.
Ericsson secured his first point since the Chinese Grand Prix in April on a track that the Swede feels does not suit the Sauber team, but praised the team for the strategy calls that were ultimately rewarded by a World Championship point.
“It is nice we have scored at least one point on a track which does not suit our car well,” said Ericsson. “The start of the race was not ideal, so I lost one position. After that I felt comfortable in the car straight away.
“On the strategy side the team made the right calls at the optimal times, and I think overall we did a good job. I am pleased to bring home at least one point before the summer break.”
Team-mate Nasr missed out on the points in eleventh, but admitted it was a better result than he was expecting to have at the beginning of the race. He felt his afternoon was compromised by traffic, with the chance of points going begging as a result.
“Finishing 11th is a better result than we expected when looking at the grid position,” said Nasr. “The team did a decent job on our strategy. However, once I became stuck in traffic my pace was compromised.
“Marcus did a good job scoring one point for the team, and I was close to getting into the top ten as well. Nevertheless, all in all we did everything we could today. Now we look forward to racing in Belgium.”
