Sauber ends points drought at Silverstone
Just like many others, the Sauber F1 Team drivers Nico Hülkenberg and Esteban Gutiérrez also suffered from tyre issues. Nico had to pit early due to a slow puncture, while Esteban had to pit twice due to a tyre problem and ended up P14. Nico managed to make the top-ten and secured one championship point.
Nico Hülkenberg, 10th, Sauber C32-Ferrari (Chassis 03/Ferrari 056): “The race today was a lot of fun. I hade some good duels and was able to push to the limit. It was fun to drive the car on such a high-speed track like Silverstone. At a point in the race, I lost the overview of what was going on, with the two safety cars and lots of tyre debris on the track. I had a slow puncture during my second stint, which is why we had to pit earlier. I think our speed was what we expected it to be, and overall was better than in qualifying yesterday.”
Esteban Gutiérrez, 14th, Sauber C32-Ferrari (Chassis 04/Ferrari 056): “It was a crazy race, because a lot of things happened and I just tried to focus and make the best out of the situation. I had to pit because of a problem with my front left tyre. This also damaged my front wing, which forced me to pit again two laps later. This is something that needs to be looked into for safety reasons and also to avoid having a race that is defined by the tyres. The car was still a bit tricky to drive in the slow corners, but overall it was ok.”
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “A hard earned point. Nico did a good job and was unfortunately slowed down by a tyre issue. Esteban dropped back due to two unplanned pit stops, also to tyre problems. At the moment we cannot expect any miracles from the car, but this result will lift the team spirit.”
Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering: “This must have been one oft the busiest days at the pit wall for quite some time. We had a slow puncture on Nico’s car and a left front tyre problem on Esteban’s car, and both those resulted in the strategy being compromised. Esteban had to pit again two laps later, because his front wing had been damaged previously. However, from a very difficult situation Nico was able to get into P10, which gave us a very useful point.”
