Close to the first points
Two weeks after the Chinese Grand Prix, the Sauber will be called upon to redeem herself from the disappointment experienced in Shanghai in Miami Grand Prixparticularly in the box of Valtteri Bottas. While Zhou Guanyu experienced the strong emotions of the first home race, the Finn instead missed the great opportunity of being able to finish in the points both in the Sprint and, above all, in the race. Fighting for tenth position, the former Mercedes had to park his C44 in the escape route for a technical problemthus abandoning any chance of being able to aim for the top-10 for the first time this season.
Bottas’ confidence
A GP in which the team will arrive with the news already made official of the arrival of Nico Hülkenberg for 2025with related market rumors that are becoming increasingly intense: “I am excited to race again at Miami, a track that I like and where I have seen satisfactory results in the past – commented #77 – although last weekend didn’t go as planned, the new sprint format in general worked quite well for me and the team: we were on the verge of fighting for points with both cars, and we are making great strides in the right direction. If we continue to progress, I hope we could be in the mix for points once again, possibly with a happier conclusion. This weekend we will have two opportunities to score points and, if we execute our sessions well, we could be right there. In such a competitive industry, where even the smallest improvements or mistakes can have a big impact, it’s important to maximize every opportunity, knowing that your competition is also working hard on their performance. The team is hungry to fight for points and we hope to bring them home from Miami.”
Preparation in Hinwil
Moved in front of his home crowd at the end of the GP, too Zhou Guanyu will have as its objective the points zone, both in the Sprint and in the race, and which will allow the team to move away from the last position shared with Williams and Alpine: “I can’t wait for Miami – He admitted – it’s a very lively city with an interesting and challenging track, and I just had some productive simulation sessions with the team in Hinwil to prepare for the circuit. We have noticed a positive trend for our car, both in terms of performance and pace in the last few races, and our upgrade packages appear to be working as expected. We came close to scoring our first points in the previous sprint session, so I am determined to give my all once again – both in the sprint and in the race – to fight for points for the team.”
