Bottas has “long-term” concerns over Sauber struggles after ‘weakest’ F1 race

Valtteri Bottas has bemoaned Sauber’s ‘weakest’ performance of the Formula 1 season on the Dutch Tall Prix but hopes the circuit will wait on as an “outlier”.

The Finn and physique of workers-mate Zhou Guanyu failed to murder an impact on the fight for sides, propping up the arena in nineteenth and twentieth on the close of the inch – the finest drivers to had been lapped twice by winner Lando Norris.

Even as Sauber has failed to rating a level this term – the finest physique of workers now not to compose in the tip 10 – Bottas and Zhou contain as a minimum been in a local to fight midfield rivals occasionally, one thing it used to be unable to enact at Zandvoort.

“I did not ask the performance to be this sorrowful,” stated Bottas.

Watch: How Norris Dominated Verstappen — F1 2024 Dutch GP Prognosis

“The launch used to be in actuality OK and we were in a correct place aside in contrast to where we started from but after admire 5 or six laps, I noticed that I struggled to use the pack.

“That is as soon as I knew that we did not somewhat contain the scamper. I hoped that perchance with varied tyre compounds issues will be larger, but it and not utilizing a doubt below no conditions did. We tried the entire compounds, so it be now not the tyre, it be the vehicle. It ethical would not work on this observe.”

Requested whether or now not he believed the performance used to be a most valuable broader-ranging voice or convey to the Dutch venue, which offers a sprint internet page on the calendar, the extinct Williams and Mercedes driver replied: “We have not been this former in any of the races this year, and it be now not admire we made a step backwards. This observe truly highlighted the weaknesses of the vehicle with the banked corners, with off cambers, cambers, plus the wind, it ethical highlighted the sensitivity of the vehicle.”

“We’re truly sensitive to crosswinds and tailwinds. If you are going by plan of bankings and off-cambers and cambers, it be even worse since the shuffle heights, they compose now not appear as if in the ethical window. So, the entire vehicle is ethical too peaky, too great on the threshold, it be now not truly an actual platform and one thing else that distracts it admire crosswind, it ethical makes issues quite lots of worse. “

Valtteri Bottas, Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber C44, Logan Sargeant, Williams FW46

Describe by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Photography

The high-inch Monza circuit will provide a special internet page for the physique of workers this weekend earlier than focal level shifts to the flyaway races that shut out the season.

On whether or now not the complications faced by the Hinwil-essentially based outfit will be cured earlier than the close of the season, Bottas conceded: “It be future, I compose now not snarl there is a rapid fix – but this observe would possibly be very distinctive and this murder of wind we occasionally ever discover.

“So I’m accrued optimistic that we are in a position to contain larger weekends and hoping that this used to be the outlier.”