Sauber works patiently

Peter Sauber confirmed it recently: at the end of the first four Grands Prix of the season, the disappointment is great not to see the team?Hinwil not count any points and the C29 displays a cruel lack of reliability. Indeed, the Asian season of F1 did not allow the team to rejoice. This Friday, the goal was to increase the reliability of this car.

« We arrived here with certain developments, says James Key, technical director. We were able to test them today. This is why we left early in the sessions. Unfortunately, Pedro (de la Rosa) suffered a gearbox problem, which we are currently investigating. We don't know if this is a hardware or control system issue. »

« The F-duct system has progressed well, we are very satisfied with the work accomplished, Key continues. Including at the aero level, since the newly introduced elements did not bring us any surprises. We have found some directions for car tuning. »

Kamui Kobayashi, who was at the forefront of the second session, is satisfied with this day. “ Overall, I'm happy. I did not encounter any problems with my car and I was able to measure the improvement during the day. We have really found a new way of working over the past three weeks. Now we need to work on the settings but there is no big problem, nothing we can't solve. »

For his part, Pedro de la Rosa was less lucky, not having been able to ride during the first session, due to his gear problem. “ I still had a good second session, says the Spanish driver. The mechanics did an excellent job despite the gearbox incident. I only had one session but it allowed us to confirm the data from the wind tunnel. »