Formula 1 Canadian GP

Bottas: Sauber fix for F1 struggles "not rocket science"

Valtteri Bottas has insisted the way to turn around Sauber's Formula 1 fortunes is "not rocket science" after another scoreless weekend at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Ewan Gale

Published: Jun 13, 2024, 4:50 PM

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Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber C44

The Hinwil-based outfit is the only team not to score points in the current campaign, having seen its qualifying performances drop since the start of the season.

Bottas had been running well in mixed conditions in Montreal before pitting "one lap too early" to switch to slicks as the track surface dried, eventually finishing 13th, 10 seconds adrift of Pierre Gasly in the last of the points-paying position.

With five cars retiring - three of which were regular points finishers in Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, and Red Bull's Sergio Perez - an opportunity was missed for Sauber to get on the scoreboard, especially with rivals Alpine securing two top-10 spots.

"We still have work to do," said Bottas. "We need to keep bringing upgrades and make the car faster. It is not rocket science, we just need more bits."

On whether an update package was on its way for the Spanish Grand Prix, the Finn replied: "We have small things but a very high downforce track, a different track to here. I think it is going to be close, as we have seen. The next step is to get back to Q2 and then we can fight a bit better."

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber C44

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Team-mate Zhou Guanyu endured a testing weekend with his struggles behind the wheel of the C44, which included two red flag-inducing incidents in practice.

His fortunes didn't turn around in time for qualifying and with a back-row start facing him, he joined Bottas in commencing the race from the pitlane.

Eventually finishing as the only driver lapped by race winner Verstappen, the Chinese driver conceded: "Just struggling across the different compounds. At the halfway stage of the race, I was a bit out of the race anyway, so a bit lonely.

"We have something already planned back at the factory to check everything, make sure we are starting a little bit more from scratch. These two weekends, I feel like something is not clicking right and this weekend, all these mistakes, they never happened before.

"So we try to understand all of our issues and have some plans for the next race."

Asked if it was just the rear of the car he was lacking confidence with given his crashes earlier in the weekend, Zhou said: "It is everywhere, to be honest, just four-wheel sliding. There is not a massive limitation, we are just lacking grip. It is quite simple but not an easy one to get progress."

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