Sauber programme incomplete due to rain
Due to rain in the first session, Sauber could not complete the testing programme as planned. Esteban Gutiérrez took this opportunity to gain experience in a Formula One car in different weather conditions. The second session saw Nico Hülkenberg struggling due to a build problem on his car.
Nico Hülkenberg, Sauber C32-Ferrari (Chassis 01/Ferrari 056): “It was a difficult Friday. The rain this morning didn’t allow us to run through our programme as planned. It’s extremely difficult to test new parts, especially the new tyre compound, in these conditions. Despite the rain that was forecast, FP2 was dry. The afternoon, however, was also difficult. The car felt undriveable and mid-session we found a set-up error. But even after we corrected that, we still had difficulties. I am not happy with the current set-up, we have to improve that and have quite a bit of work to do before tomorrow.”
Esteban Gutiérrez, Sauber C32-Ferrari (Chassis 03/Ferrari 056): “All in all we tested a lot of different set-ups today so we could find the right balance. But it’s quite evident we need to find a lot more speed. We are definitely not where we want to be and we need to work as a team to improve and have a better overall speed. The track is really fun to dive on in a Formula One car - I like it a lot. You can attack the kerbs, you have the high-speed braking and it’s a good challenge overall. The change of weather conditions has actually been good. It was important to gain experience on the intermediate tyres. The forecast is still unsettled, and I think we are more competitive in the wet.”
Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering: “The wet free practice one session was not ideal but we elected to give the drivers as much experience as possible in those conditions, as the forecast is still unsettled for the rest of the weekend. FP2 was difficult for us as a session. We had some build problems with Nico’s car at the start, which took a while to get sorted. The high fuel run performance was stronger, but there is still a lot of work to do. For the first time here in a Formula 1 car, Esteban did a good job getting lots of experience on a challenging track. There is a lot of work to do before qualifying tomorrow.”
