Hulkenberg takes two extra points for Sauber
Sauber F1 was able to score further points at the Singapore Grand Prix, increasing its yearly tally to 19. Nico Hülkenberg fought his way to 9th, despite having to give back a position after leaving the track due to avoiding a collision with Sergio Perez. Esteban Gutiérrez complained about tyre degradation and finished 12th.
Nico Hülkenberg, 9th, Sauber C32-Ferrari (Chassis 03/Ferrari 056): “All in all we can be happy. We brought home two points. To be honest, I didn’t expect much more than that. You can’t expect that every weekend will be like Monza now, but we improved significantly. It was a very tough race. I had a very good start and then a racing situation with Sergio Perez. In the end, I did have to give back the position to him and I don’t quite agree with that. There was a Williams in the fight as well, Sergio was on the inside, but I had to leave space and caught the outer kerb. Then my car bottomed and I was off, however, I was in front of Sergio before and after the corner. At the end, it was a pure fight for survival, because the tyres were pretty much gone. Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber were all on fresh tyres and I simply had to focus on staying on track and finishing the race.”
Esteban Gutiérrez, 12th, Sauber C32-Ferrari (Chassis 04/Ferrari 056): “We expected a better result today. Our pace during the race was not good enough, especially at the beginning as I was fighting a lot with the car. At times I pushed a bit too much, had a lot of oversteer and the tyres were degrading. It was one of the toughest races I have ever had. I did the best I could and this is where we finished. The strategy was not ideal either. Nevertheless, the weekend was a step forward and now I will keep working to improve.”
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “After a strong performance in Monza we were able to claim points again, which is very pleasing. Nico drove a fantastic race and was rewarded with two points. We find the decision by race director to give the position back to Sergio Perez very harsh. He did not gain an advantage, but merely avoided a collision by leaving the track. However, we have to accept this decision. Esteban had a mixed weekend. Now we have to find out why he wasn’t able to clock the expected lap times. We are happy that we were able to perform on a track that usually doesn’t suit our car. That shows we are heading in the right direction with the development of the car.”
Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering: “Scoring points again was obviously very good for the team. The timing of the safety car meant it was very difficult to get to the end from there, but we elected to do that with both cars. Nico managed the tyres and the pressure from behind very well. It’s a shame he had to give his position up to Sergio Perez because he went off the track. However, this was not to gain a position but to avoid a crash. Esteban lost track positions when the Safety Car came out, and, after that, he suffered some slight tyre degradation. But overall, we take a lot of positives from this weekend to the upcoming races.”
