Sauber 'hoped for a bit more' in qualifying
In qualifying for the German Grand Prix on the Hockenheimring the two Sauber F1 Team drivers finished in 14th (Esteban Gutiérrez) and 17th (Adrian Sutil).
Sutil paid the price for losing valuable preparation time due to a battery pack issue in FP3 while Gutiérrez was able to improve the performance of his car since yesterday, however, due to a penalty from the last race, he will have to move three positions back on the grid.
Esteban Gutiérrez, car #21, Sauber C33-Ferrari (Chassis 01/Ferrari), 14th: “We all did a great job today. We were working very hard in order to recover from the second practice session yesterday that was not ideal. The team put every little detail together and it worked out pretty well. I think our speed in Q1 was strong, although in Q2 I missed a few tenths which would have put us in a better position. Considering the speed we were missing yesterday, we made quite a good step today. The race will be interesting as it is challenging to keep the tyres alive. As everybody in our team is pushing very hard, it has to be rewarded soon.”
Adrian Sutil, car #99, Sauber C33-Ferrari (Chassis 02/Ferrari), 17th: “Unfortunately, the technology did not play into our hands and blew away a good result. In the morning I could only run one lap during the third free practice session and, as a result, our preparation for qualifying was not good enough. It is a pity, as Q3 would have been possible today. Due to the time lost in the morning we could not expect more. However, we did our best during qualifying. We were also unlucky with the red flags, as I was on a good lap.”
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “This result reflects more or less where we stand at this point in time. Obviously it’s a shame that Esteban has to move three places back. Tomorrow we have to focus one hundred percent on the race and make sure that we are not making any mistakes.”
Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “This morning Adrian basically lost the whole session due to a problem with the battery pack. Therefore he was not able to use the supersoft tyres in FP3, which was definitely a significant disadvantage for him. Esteban has made good progress since yesterday when he was not at all happy with the car. We continued working on the set-up this morning and made progress, which allowed him to put together a good qualifying lap particularly in Q1. Unfortunately he has to go back three places. After yesterday we hoped for a bit more. We now have to make sure that we get the maximum out of the package in the race.”
