Monisha Kaltenborn believes the starting positions of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr led into a difficult Japanese Grand Prix for the Sauber F1 Team.
Ericsson started the Grand Prix at the Suzuka International Racing Course for Sauber in eighteenth, with team-mate Nasr closely behind in nineteenth, and with their starting positions in mind, it was important to choose strategies that were different to their competitors.
With a good start Ericsson was able to move up to seventeenth, from here he continued to improve, leading to the Swede finishing the Grand Prix in fifteenth. Nasr on the other hand started behind Ericsson but was unable to improve on his starting position after an earlier than planned pit stop after a lock-up and blue flags whilst being lapped affecting his afternoon.
“Our starting positions led into a difficult race,” said Team Principal Kaltenborn. “Therefore, it was important to choose strategies which were different to those of the other competitors.
“In order to make a one-stop strategy work, it was mainly up to the drivers. In that sense, Marcus put in a flawless performance and was able to keep some of our direct competitors behind him.
“On hard tyres, Felipe was able to remain in his position after the race start. Later on he had to box a bit earlier than planned after braking too late and flat spotting his tyres.”
