Mid-season report: Sauber, renewal is underway
The Swiss team continues to develop and is catching up with the middle of the pack in big strides. All of this is aided by the Ferrari-Alfa Romeo duo and the exploits of the new Formula 1 hopeful, Charles Leclerc.
9th in Constructors’ Championship: 18 pts
The day and night. At the bottom of the grid and on the brink of bankruptcy a year ago, the Sauber team has transformed: the arrival of Frédéric Vasseur as team principal on July 17, 2017, is obviously not unrelated to this evolution.
His stroke of genius? Canceling an uncertain engine partnership with Honda to continue with Ferrari. It was a good decision: the C37 benefits fully from the power developments of the Prancing Horse, excelling on the circuits that require full power.
Also financially and structurally boosted by the arrival of Alfa Romeo, the car has made significant progress everywhere compared to the previous model. And Frédéric Vasseur knows how to put the right people in the right places; at the end of May, he appointed Simone Resta, a former member of Scuderia Ferrari, as the technical director.
The pilots
What a difference! While the first one ascends the ranks swiftly to the top of the discipline, the second remains at a respectable level but hits a ceiling. First of all, Charles Leclerc’s season is one of the great stories of this F1 vintage. Coming off the momentum of his titles in GP3 and F2 (in his first year each time), the Ferrari Academy driver has the instinct of the greats, maximizing results when the opportunity arises, even with less equipment.
A big congratulations to our Monegasque driver @Charles_Leclerc for his incredible weekend in Baku 🎉👏:
✅ Fri: twice ahead of his teammate during practice sessions
✅ Sat: first time in Q2 for Charles
✅ Sun: 6th place and his first F1 points #DagheCharles #F1 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/iINeNlkN8V
— Automobile Club MC (@ACM_Media) April 30
The Monegasque also benefited from the car’s development, but just look at the statistics against his teammate to be convinced. After a more difficult start to the season, due to an adaptation phase, Leclerc delivered the required performance in Baku, avoiding traps and collisions. Five top 10 finishes in six races thereafter, up to Austria. His only retirement during this period was due to a brake disc failure in Monaco. But the rookie is just as dazzling in qualifying, with his 8th place in France, on a dry track, ahead of both Haas cars, with equal engines.
Facing challenges, Marcus Ericsson finds it tough to stand out. The Swede has blended into the Formula 1 background: perhaps too much. Yet, the driver with 88 starts under his belt does score points; the former Caterham driver opened Sauber’s account in Bahrain. The rest was less impressive, overshadowed by Charles Leclerc. Then, in Germany, Ericsson excelled on the wet track to take ninth place, while his teammate opted for rain tires at the wrong moment. An honest performance overall, marking his best half-season in terms of points since his debut in 2014. So, while Ericsson might not aim higher, he has built an experience that makes him a reference driver for his team.
| Head to head… | Score | |
| 1 | In Qualifying | 9-3 for Leclerc |
| 2 | In Race | 6-5 for Leclerc * |
*: the statistic does not account for cases of double abandonment (in Great Britain here)
| Driver | Qualifications: number of top 10 | Qualifications: best position | Race: number of top 10 | Race: best position | Number of championship points | |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | 3 | 8th (France) | 5 | 6th (Azerbaijan) | 13 |
| 2 | Marcus Ericsson | 0 | 13th (Germany) | 3 | 9th (Bahrain / Germany) | 5 |
The rest of the season
Whatever happens, Charles Leclerc will have to digest the outcome of the negotiations with Ferrari. The Monegasque is a man in a hurry, but he should not lose focus: a seat with the Reds seems promised by 2020, especially since Ricciardo signed with Renault. Until then, he will have to do the job with Sauber for the rest of the season. He will need to attack hard at the restart in Belgium to dispel the small clouds of July, marked by a triple zero in three races. And if he misses, Ericsson will certainly be there to compensate, as he did at the beginning of the season. Barring a disaster, the latter also knows that his place is secured for 2019, mainly thanks to his sponsors.
So, even if the Sauber team has stopped developing their car for the end of the season, the goal will be to catch up with Toro Rosso in eighth place, ten points ahead. The move is clearly doable! In the longer term, the position of Sauber (Alfa-Romeo!), which is going to increase its workforce by a third, seems sustainable in the ruthless world of Formula 1. This wouldn’t have been said a year ago…
