Race - Austrian GP report: Sauber Ferrari

The Sauber F1 Team ended the Austrian Grand Prix in 11th (Nasr) and 13th (Ericsson). A disappointing result considering the starting positions 8th and 11th. Felipe Nasr struggled with overheating brakes, therefore, the Brazilian was not able to keep up his pace. Marcus Ericsson’s race was compromised by a jump start, which cost him a drive-through-penalty. In addition, after an incident on lap one, the Swede had a damaged car which affected his performance and was followed by an electronic issue.

Marcus Ericsson

“It began at the start with me being to eager and jumping the start. On lap one I went over debris, which destroyed both my front and rear wing. I had an early first pit stop to get a new front wing, but we saw on the data that my pace was compromised. Furthermore, I had an electronic issue, so the car switched off twice, which forced me to restart it again.”

Felipe Nasr

“I am disappointed with this result. I struggled a lot with overheating brakes. I was not able to brake properly, therefore it was difficult to defend my position. Looking back from where we started, we expected to be in the points today, and I did everything I could to make it happen. We need to find a solution, as we cannot loose such opportunites.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal

“A very disappointing race because we had chances to score points when looking at our grid positions. For Marcus, the race was immediately affected by a jump start and a damaged car. Felipe had huge difficulties with the brakes, which compromised his race pace, so he was not able to keep hold of his position. We now need to find a solution for these issues."

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering

“A day of missed opportunities. Marcus’ race was compromised very early on by a jump start, which cost him a drive-through-penalty. Due to a damaged rear wing, he lost downforce which affected the performance of his car. Felipe had issues with the brakes that became severe during the second half of the race. Therefore he could not keep up with the pace, so he was not able to finish the race in the points. A disappointing Sunday for all of us.”