Simone Resta says it is the aim of the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team to fight to get both cars into the top ten shoot-out in all of the remaining races of the 2018 Formula 1 season, starting this weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Resta, who joined the Hinwil-based team in July after moving across from Scuderia Ferrari, says that whilst points would always be welcome, their championship position in the final events of the year is unlikely to change, so challenging to get both Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson inside the top ten in Qualifying is the target.
Leclerc has managed to make it into Q3 three times this season, however Ericsson has yet to do so, although he has come close on a number of occasions as Sauber continue to improve in 2018 following a few years trailing at the back.
Resta admits the team has switched its primary focus to the 2019 car, which will be driven by Kimi Räikkönen after the Finn was replaced in the Ferrari line-up by Leclerc, but there is still plenty to play for in the remaining races of this season.
“I hope we will be progressing a little bit in the next races and that we will be closer and closer to Q3 with both cars,” said Resta on Formula1.com.
“The trend so far [in 2018] has been good. I think it’s fair to say that we are slowing down our development rate for the time being, and we are concentrating mostly on next year’s car, which is a big challenge but also a big opportunity for us to close even further the gap to the big [teams].”
