Sauber was hoping for more than one point at Singapore
The Sauber F1 Team was hoping for more than a single point from the grueling night race round the streets of Singapore. However, things did not go its way, and it has had to settle for tenth for Sergio Pérez and 14th for Kamui Kobayashi in their Sauber C30-Ferraris.
While the Safety Car played a crucial part in the team’s result, Pérez was lucky that he only suffered a puncture from the incident that brought it out when Michael Schumacher’s car collided with the back of his.
Sergio Pérez: 10th
Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)
Start on supersoft tyres, after 15 laps soft tyres, after 29 laps soft tyres.
“I think tenth was the best we could manage today. I was on a two stop strategy, starting on the supersoft tyres and changing after 15 laps to the soft compound. For my second stop I had to pit earlier because I had a puncture after the accident with Michael (Schumacher), and then I had to do a very long last stint - actually just a bit over half the race distance - with the second set of soft tyres. I think Michael was too optimistic with what he tried. It is a shame to have lost a place to Felipe (Massa) in the end, but the tyres were finished and I couldn’t defend anymore. We will keep fighting to get back sixth place in the Championship.”
Kamui Kobayashi: 14th
Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 04 / Ferrari 056)
Start on soft tyres, after 16 laps soft tyres, after 29 laps supersoft tyres, after 54 laps supersoft tyres.
“This was a very difficult weekend for me. Our pace all weekend was actually okay, but in the race, due to traffic and a mistake with the strategy when the Safety Car was on the track, it didn’t work out. I was very surprised when I got the drive through penalty, because I didn’t see any blue flags.”
Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “I can’t pretend to be that happy with one point, as I think we were expecting a little better than what we achieved today. Unfortunately the Safety Car didn’t come at the right moment for us. Under the circumstances I think what Sergio did was the best we could achieve here. I have to be honest and say we should have left Kamui out during the Safety Car period, but still I don’t think he could have scored points today. Performance wise I think we are better than we looked, but we just didn’t get through the traffic when it was there.”
