Sauber has 'no idea' where it stands compared to the competition

For Sauber, this 2025 season does not look like a bounce-back season after spending almost the entire previous one at the back of the grid. There were some glimmers of hope at the end of the year, such as in Qatar when Guanyu-Zhou scored 4 points to ensure they didn't finish with a goalless draw, but overall it was a disappointment.

The poorly designed car never allowed the Swiss team to hope to get closer to the Top 10, unlike Alpine for example, who was able to progress to become the 5th or 6th force on the plateau at the end of the year. What will happen in 2025? At the dawn of this new campaign, everything suggests that the formation of Hinwil is in total uncertainty just a few days before the first Grand Prix of the season in Australia (March 14-16).

« Three very intense days. They feel long and short at the same time., summarized Nico Hulkenberg after winter testing. This allowed us to get our first impressions of the car and for me to start working with my new team. Lots of laps completed, lots of data collected… We’ll digest and analyse everything before going to Melbourne. I can’t wait to be there. »

While it is still difficult to establish a precise hierarchy of the grid, Sauber once again appears as the last force. This is the trend that emerged on the Bahrain side where the Swiss still seemed behind the competition.

« The tests themselves went well., adds the German. But I have no idea where we are to be completely honest. So it's about finding a good starting point to understand the car, how the different set-ups work, all those basic things at the end of the day. We've ticked all those boxes. Now we'll see how it goes in Melbourne.

There are always a lot of areas that we can work on and improve. We are starting from a long way back if we look at last season. I don't know to be completely honest. (on Sauber level). You will have to be on the track [in Australia] and measure ourselves against others. This will allow us to really know [our level]. »

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