Race report
Formula 1
Weekend with ups and downs for Sauber on United State GP
Edited: Nov 19, 2012, 1:27 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
After starting the race from 15th and 16th respectively, Sergio Pérez and Kamui Kobayashi took the chequered flag at the inaugural Grand Prix of the United States in Austin in 11th and 14th.
Both started on the medium compound tyres and only stopped once. After a fantastic start and strong early laps Sergio lost performance due to a brake problem.
Kamui pitted early, at the end of lap 13, to change to hard tyres and couldn’t find grip with either of the compounds.
Sergio Perez, Sauber F1 Team
Photo by: Rainier Ehrhardt
Sergio Pérez (C31-Ferrari - Finished 11th): “My start worked really well and the first laps were good too. I had a good pace, and the car was really quick, but then around lap ten I had a problem with the brakes.
The pedal became very long and I had big difficulties before every corner. This cost a lot of time and so we didn’t manage to get any points here. Regardless of the result it was a great experience to race here in front of so many Mexicans.
The COTA is a great track and I hope we can have this Grand Prix on the calendar for many years. Now we will get ourselves together for the final attempt to improve to fifth place in the Constructors’ World Championship next week.“
Kamui Kobayashi (C31-Ferrari - Finished 14th): “For the entire weekend here I had warm up problems and didn’t get the tyres to work. We have to find out why this was.
The grip level only increased in the last laps of the race at the end of a very long stint with the hard tyres. This was crazy and I do hope very much we are stronger in Sao Paulo to finish the season on a high.“
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “For our team it was a weekend with ups and downs, which was also reflected in the race. Sergio made a very good start and was 11th after lap one, with a chance to fight for points, but later he reported a brake problem and, as a result, lost positions.
Kamui was never able to recover from his grid position. We have not given up the fight for P5 in the constructors’ championship, but we will have a lot of pressure in Interlagos.
However, we are taking this as an extra motivation. Congratulations to the people responsible at the COTA for building a great track and organising a great event for the many fans who were present today.”
Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “This was a fairly difficult weekend for us. For some reason we were not able to exploit the potential which was there. Our main problem was to get the tyres to work, which was reflected in our qualifying performance.
With Kamui we opted for an early pit stop, but we didn’t benefit from that. Sergio had a very good first lap and therefore we went for a more standard strategy, but then he reported a long brake pedal.
We spotted a problem, but we were confident on the safety side, because the travel soon stabilised.
However, on the performance side we had to pay the price, particularly around the pit stop where we lost two positions to the Williams. We couldn’t regain these positions.”
Sauber F1 Team
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Renault powers Red Bull Racing to third consecutive Constructors’ Championship title
Next article A tough race for Marussia at Circuit of The Americas
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Kamui Kobayashi
WEC title showdown: How Toyota’s two crews can win the crown at Monza
WEC
WEC
Monza
WEC title showdown: How Toyota’s two crews can win the crown at Monza
Toyota drivers predict faster lap times and “plenty of fighting” ahead at Le Mans
WEC
WEC
24 Hours of Le Mans
Toyota drivers predict faster lap times and “plenty of fighting” ahead at Le Mans
Kobayashi to return to WTR for Daytona Cadillac attack
IMSA
IMSA
Kobayashi to return to WTR for Daytona Cadillac attack
More from
Ferrari
Robert Kubica announces exit from AF Corse’s privateer Hypercar in WEC
WEC
WEC
Monza
8 h
Robert Kubica announces exit from AF Corse’s privateer Hypercar in WEC
Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
9 h
Charles Leclerc penalised for Liam Lawson clash; Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman also punished after F1 Brazilian GP
Latest news
WEC drivers question lack of full-course yellow after heavy Monza crash
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
19 min
WEC drivers question lack of full-course yellow after heavy Monza crash
Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the Hendrick 5 are who we say they are
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
Kyle Larson, Cliff Daniels and the Hendrick 5 are who we say they are
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
6 h
Final NASCAR Cup points standings after 2026 Homestead finale
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe