Vasseur: “One of the best opportunities to score points”

The Swiss team has already opened its 2018 tally thanks to a fine 9th place for Marcus Ericsson in Bahrain. But if it managed to return to the fight, the Hinwill structure is not yet able to play the Top 10 on a regular basis.

In these circumstances, Sauber approaches with appetite the atypical circuits which can give rise to somewhat crazy races, as was the case on the shores of the Caspian Sea in 2017.

« When on the grid, you start between 15th and 20th place, there are more opportunities here than in Barcelona where there hasn't been an overtaking since 1972, where everyone finishes and therefore where you have less chance of putting pawns, Vasseur told the French press with his usual ease.

It is certain that Baku, when you see that (Spear) Stroll finished on the podium last year you tell yourself that there is still something to do. We have to be hyper vigilant, but this applies to all race weekends, because it is undoubtedly one of the best opportunities to score points this year ».

In Sakhir, Sauber was able to use a one-stop strategy to gain units. Vasseur, however, warns against the temptation to try too daring moves on each event.

« I'm not a big fan of saying, 'we are going to go against the others‘. If everyone is going in one direction, it’s still converging towards performance. If you take another path, it is because you are moving away from the optimal situation, hoping for a twist of fate. I think we need to focus on our own level of performance and then be opportunistic ».

The French team boss finally recalls that one of the keys to success in Baku lies in the ability to remain patient on a particularly tricky track.

« Brilliant overtaking very rarely happens here because there is no room. Sometimes you have the impression that the guys in front of you are "under pace" but it's because the track is like that, that the tires are not hot. Last year, what happened was that at each restart everyone had super cold tires and was moving on eggshells so when you're in the car you have the feeling that the guy in front is dragging himself but you too are dragging yourself (Laughter). You have to know how to keep your cool and understand that Baku works like that ».