Sauber disappointed with qualifying
After the Sauber F1 Team’s performance in all three free practice sessions ahead of the Italian Grand Prix in Monza looked quite promising, qualifying on the famous high speed circuit proved to be a tough one for the Sauber C30-Ferrari. Sergio Pérez qualified 15th, while Kamui Kobayashi came 17th.
Sergio Pérez, Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 02 / Ferrari 056):
3rd Practice: 13th/1:24.948 min (soft tyres)
Qualifying: 15th/1.24.845 min (in Q2, soft tyres)
“Of course we cannot be happy with our qualifying result, but also I think this is pretty much all we could do today. My fastest lap was a good one, so there is nothing to complain about. Now we have to cope with what we’ve got. I trust our race pace will once again be better than our qualifying performance, and for sure I still want to score points at my first Formula One Grand Prix in Monza.“
Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 01 / Ferrari 056):
3rd Practice: 14th/1:25.261 min (soft tyres)
Qualifying: 17th/1.25.065 min (in Q2, soft tyres)
“I slightly flat spotted a tyre in Q2, but even without that happening I don’t believe I could have qualified in a significantly better position. We have been quite far away from Q3 today. However, we knew the Monza high speed circuit would be a tough one for us, and in the end it is tomorrow’s race what counts. Of course it will be very difficult to get into the points from where I will be starting, but chances can still open up, so we will see.”
Peter Sauber, Team Principal:
“I always like going to Monza, although this time we knew that this high speed track would be difficult for us. Nevertheless, I expected more today. If we don’t want to lose contact with Force India we have to act quickly.”
Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering:
“It was obviously a disappointing qualifying. The balance of the cars was okay, and we were able to complete the programme without any problems, but the lap times just didn’t come. On this track the competition is farther away than we were expecting them to be. The race will be difficult from this position, but our race performance should normally be a little bit closer to the opposition, and we will try to maximise our chances with the right strategy.”
