Monocoque issue frustrates Sauber
The second pre-season test came to an end today and left Sauber frustrated by the lack of running on this final day. An internal chassis issue forced the team to make a lengthy monocoque change, limiting Adrian Sutil to a mere 7 laps.
The Sauber F1 Team did however make progress in the first three days, completing systems and set-up checks as well as qualifying and race simulations.
Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “We have learned a lot in the past four days. We were able to explore the different tyre compounds, complete aero tests, do qualifying and race simulation, just to name a few things. Of course it was frustrating to lose out on so much time today. We discovered a problem with an internal part of the monocoque, which is why we had to change the chassis. We have identified the problem and reinforced the new chassis for today. We put the necessary improvements in place and are confident that this will not happen again. The team worked incredibly hard to put the car back on track. But that’s what testing is for, and we are glad the issue came up now and not in Melbourne. Over the next few days we will be analysing a lot of data and start preparations for the final pre-season test next week.”
Adrian Sutil, C33-01: "It was a disappointing day. We lost valuable time on track, even though the pit crew did an incredible job to have the car back together in the afternoon. These things happen when you are testing, and we learn from this. Now we will focus on getting the most out the four days we have left."
The final pre-season test will take place in Bahrain from 27th February to 2nd March.
