Vasseur encourages his troops at Sauber: “A huge step forward”

When doing the accounts after the first part of the 2018 season Formula 1, Sauber is in a much better position than last year. The Swiss team counts 18 points and ranked 9th in the Manufacturers’ standings, before Williams and only ten points behind Toro Rosso. Twelve months earlier, Sauber was trailing in last place, with five small points.

Director of Sauber, Frederic Vasseur is satisfied with this progress, but the French engineer is even more delighted by the work accomplished by his staff. “I think we are on the right track. If we compare the start of the season and the end of the first half of the year, we have improved greatly, more than 1,5% compared to the race lead. “It’s a huge step forward,” he says.

There's no #F1DriverOfTheDay vote on Saturdays…

But if there was, we're pretty sure it would go to @Charles_Leclerc today!

An incredible job to get through to Q3 for the first time #FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/vOsoUSTuhq

- Formula 1 (@ F1) 23th June 2018

The former boss of Renault F1, however, does not want to think too big too quickly. “I know for a fact that as you get closer to the front of the pack, progress is harder to make. » A hard worker, Frédéric Vasseur does not hesitate to set high expectations internally, because “It’s the best way to put pressure on the team, on the drivers, and that’s the key for the team”, in order to obtain convincing results.

Charles Leclerc, despite his status as a beginner in F1, wore the Sauber colors high, notably with three finishes in the top 10 in qualifying this summer and a sixth place achieved at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Monegasque also recorded points five times up to Hungary.

@Charles_Leclerc's overtake over @BrendonHartley #AustrianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/WcJjsRZjgK

— Alban #EO31 (@RC_Wallen) July 5, 2018

Marcus Ericsson has more difficulties, with “only” three races finishing in the points, which is already more than his two blank seasons in 2016 and 2017.