Ninth on the grid in Abu Dhabi, can Bottas avoid finishing Fanny in 2024?

Now is the time or never for Valtteri Bottas. The Finn has one last chance to open his points tally in 2024 this Sunday, for the last Grand Prix of the season in Abu Dhabi. And what an opportunity: the Sauber driver achieved his best qualifying of the year on Saturday, placing his C44 in 9th place in Q3! An interesting starting position that leaves the field of possibilities wide open. Sauber finally seems to have found performance at the end of the championship, as evidenced by the first points acquired by the Swiss team thanks to Guanyu-Zhou in Qatar last week.

On the eve of his last Grand Prix with Sauber – the last one at all in Formula 1 ? – Valtteri Bottas hopes to take advantage of this starting position to avoid finishing Fanny, with no points on the counter. “Obviously I’m very happy with this result: to get into Q3 and qualify 9th, our best performance of the year, it’s great. It’s almost unexpected, it kind of came out of nowhere,” said the 35-year-old driver after qualifying.

“I knew we could have a chance, but after a difficult FP3 I had tempered my expectations somewhat, the Finn stressed. However, in qualifying I managed to pull myself together: honestly, it was one of the best laps of my life. I am really satisfied, and I have to thank the team very much for making this possible. The race will be interesting: we know it will be difficult, but starting from here is the best way to give ourselves a chance to be competitive."

Sauber hopes for second points finish

With this passage into Q3 and this qualification in 9th place for Valtteri Bottas, Sauber has good hope of stringing together a second consecutive race in the points, in order to save the record of a very complicated season for the Swiss team. “We are confident that Guanyu Zhou (15th on the grid) can fight for a good result in the race, and with Valtteri starting from 9th, we aim to replicate the good performance we achieved in Qatar, says Alessandro Alunni Bravi, representative of the Sauber team. We are aware of the challenges that lie ahead, as our competitors are incredibly strong, especially in the race conditions, but we are fully determined to give our best until the last lap in order to maintain and confirm our positive momentum.

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