Race - Abu Dhabi GP report: Sauber Ferrari

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix did not produce the turnaround which the Sauber F1 Team had hoped for. Esteban Gutiérrez and Adrian Sutil finished 15th and 16th, and therefore remained with no points at the 19th and last race of the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship. The Sauber F1 Team congratulates Lewis Hamilton on winning the title.

Esteban Gutiérrez

“A race during which I fought from the beginning to the end. We managed to keep our planned two-stop-strategy, which was quite an aggressive one. On my last stint I had to drive as many laps as possible on this set of tyres, which worked out for us. I was pushing every lap, but at the same time I had to manage the tyres. I want to thank every team member; it was a pleasure to have worked with the Sauber F1 Team. I wish everyone all the best for the future.”

Adrian Sutil

“It was a normal race. I had quite a good start. Afterwards Kevin (Magnussen) drove into my car, and I dropped back many positons. I still cannot say if my car was damaged or not. After this incident I tried my best to get back into the race. However, we had to switch to another strategy with three pit stops, which was not ideal. In general the pace was not good enough, so a better result would have been difficult to achieve. Finally, I want to thank the engineers and mechanics who have all worked very hard throughout the season.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal

“First of all, I want to congratulate Lewis Hamilton on winning the title, and the Mercedes team for an impressive dominant and outstanding season. Coming to our team, 15th and 16th in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix are typical of the 2014 season, which was a huge disappointment. Everyone within the team worked very hard, but we could not achieve the results we aimed for. We were not able to score points, which has never happened before in the history of the team. There are many reasons for this. However, it does not make sense to point fingers. We will draw our conclusions and will initiate the right actions. We will move on and use our entire energy to bring the team back to where it was before, and where it should be. I want to thank every member of the team - mechanics, engineers, the employees at the factory and our drivers. A special thanks goes to Esteban Gutiérrez who was part of this team for five years, first as an affiliated driver and afterwards for two years as a race driver. We were with him through good and bad times. Esteban was always loyal to the team. Adrian surely expected more from this season, as we also did. With the issues we had with the C33 he was not able to deliver results which we as a team and he wished for. Giedo van der Garde did a great job as test and reserve driver. We thank all of them, and wish them all the best for the future.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering

“It started off quite well with Adrian gaining some positions at the start, but in Turn 7 on the first lap he was hit by another driver and lost some places. When he was then stuck in traffic behind slower cars we opted for an early pit stop, which originally was not planned. He was then on an three stop stragety. In hindsight that maybe cost him some time. However, looking at the other car that had a clean two stop strategy, it didn’t really change a lot as our cars finished in 15th and 16th. Once again our performance was not good enough to achieve more. This race marks the end of a very difficult season. However, as a team we never gave up, and I would like to thank everyone for their hard work. As from tomorrow we will switch our focus to the 2015 season.“