Race - Russian GP report: Sauber Ferrari

The Sauber F1 Team finished the Russian Grand Prix back in the points. Felipe Nasr took the chequered flag in his Sauber C34-Ferrari in P7. At the very end of the Russian Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) caused a collision, and he was given a 30 second penalty added to the elapsed race time. This decision moved Felipe Nasr up into P6, and he collected eight world championship points. This was his second best result after the Australian Grand Prix, in which the Brazilian finished in P5. Marcus Ericsson was unlucky the whole weekend. Directly after the race start, the Swede ran into another competitor after he spun in turn two.

Marcus Ericsson

“A difficult weekend for me, but I was still optimistic for the race. As I started from the back of the field, we chose an alternative strategy starting on soft tyres. The start was good, as I was able to overtake a few cars going down to turn two. Then I suddenly saw Nico (Hulkenberg) facing the wrong way. I had nowhere to go and went into him. This is very disappointing as the car was quite competitive here. A missed opportunity, which is frustrating for me. Now I will recharge and try it again during the next race weekend.”

Felipe Nasr

“I am very satisfied with the result today. It was an intense race from the beginning to the end. The pace of the car was quite competitive, especially on the supersoft tyres, and we were temporarily able to keep ahead of some strong competitors. The balance of the car with the soft tyres was not as good as with the supersofts. Nevertheless, well done to the team, those points are for all of them. They all did a great job. These are the opportunites we cannot miss, and I am glad we extracted the maximum today.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal

“A great job by the team – here in Sochi as well as at the factory in Hinwil. Felipe had a very good race. Directly after the start he was lucky enough to drive around a tricky situation. With a strong performance, he was able to show the potential of the car. There is even more to extract from the Sauber C34-Ferrari. Unfortunately, Marcus had no luck. It was not his weekend. He managed to have a good start, but then ran into another competitor after he spun.”