Felipe Nasr secured his first point since the Monaco Grand Prix in May with a tenth place finish in the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, with the Sauber F1 Team driver finishing just ahead of team-mate Marcus Ericsson.
Nasr felt it was a challenging race under the lights in Singapore, especially after suffering a loss of tyre temperature after the second safety car period that cost him ground that took time for him to make up again. He never the less was happy to finally end his streak of non-scoring races.
“It was a very challenging race for us today,” said Nasr. “We had planned a two-stop-strategy, and we knew it would be difficult to make it into the points.
“It was going well as I was up in the top ten after the first safety car phase. Unfortunately, when the second safety car came in I lost front tyre temperatures. When the re-start happened my pace was not good enough. I lost a lot of ground and had to wait to let the tyres recover.
“However, in the end I am very happy for the team and also for myself to have scored one point. We did not have an easy weekend. It is good to have finished the race with some satisfaction.”
Team-mate Ericsson was just outside the top ten in eleventh, but was disappointed not to secure a points finish for a fourth consecutive race. He felt he had a good start and opening lap, making a good move on the McLaren-Honda of Jenson Button, but rued a mistake after his first pit stop with a button on his steering wheel that cost him some time.
“I was satisfied with my start, as well as my first lap,” said Ericsson. “I managed to get Jenson (Button) with a good move. After that, I was pushing Felipe (Nasr) quite hard, but it is difficult to overtake on this track.
“However, after the first pit stop we unfortunately missed switching off the pit stop buttons on the steering wheel. I was then out on track with the brake balance for the pit stop procedure, which caused a massive lock up at the rear. That was unlucky.
“After that, I had quite a satisfying pace. Overall it is nice that Felipe scored one point, but for me it is a bit disappointing.”
