Hulkenberg adds 4 points for Sauber at Brazil
Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg added 4 more points to his and Sauber's record, consolidating his 10th place in the championship. Team mate Esteban Gutierrez was 12th at the finish.
The Brazilian Grand Prix in Interlagos saw just a few rain drops, but in general the track stayed dry, unlike in qualifying yesterday. Nico Hülkenberg starting tenth, while Esteban Gutiérrez starting 17th wasn’t ideal for the Sauber F1 Team. However, both drivers were able to make up positions. Hülkenberg finished eighth and claimed four championship points, putting him tenth in the drivers’ championship, which is his best result in his Formula One Career to date. Gutiérrez finished 12th in the Grand Prix and, with a tally of six points, has finished the season in 16th and as the best rookie. The Brazilian Grand Prix marks the end of a season that had a difficult start for the Sauber F1 Team. However, the whole team kept up its morale and was able to make a big step forward in the second half of the season.
Nico Hülkenberg, 8th, Sauber C32-Ferrari (Chassis 03/Ferrari 056): “It was a good race. I had a good start and nice battles in the first few laps. Then I was by myself for most of the race. The problem today was too much understeer. Because of that the front tyres were ruined pretty quickly, which cost us time. But finishing eighth is a solid result and it puts me in tenth place in the drivers’ championschip, which I have never achieved before. That is a good feeling.”
Esteban Gutiérrez, 12th, Sauber C32-Ferrari (Chassis 01/Ferrari 056): “Overall I feel positive. It’s been a great race and I enjoyed all the fights on track today. I had a good fist lap overtaking quite a few cars. We were struggling a bit with the hard tyres in the first stint, but then managed to recover some time with the medium tyres during the second and third stints. So the way we approached everything today was good. It was still quite a challenge to manage the front graining we had and I was doing everything I could to try and compensate for that. All in all I have finished the season with a positive race. It was a season where learning and gaining experience have been the main topics for me, and I feel I did a solid job as a driver to take the next step forward for my performance.”
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “A consolidating end to the season, which has been very difficult for the team. However the team has shown its morale in this difficult situation and together we will come back stronger. The foundation for a successful second half of the season was a strong performance from everyone in Hinwil and the race team, which translated into success at the track. The race today was typical of the season: despite a difficult starting point we were able to score four points and, therefore, have a satisfying end to the season.”
Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering: “The rain just held off and, as planned, we had a two stop strategy with both cars. With a lot of information that needed to be processed today, our strategy engineer did an excellent job. Finishing P8 and P12 is good, considering where we started from. After a difficult start to the season, we have improved our results in the second half. This was a team effort from everyone at the track as well as everyone back at the factory in Hinwil. They have all been working very hard to improve our competitiveness. A big thank you to everyone involved in that. We start a new era in Formula One, and that is now our immediate focus.”
