Sauber wants to bounce back in Abu Dhabi
The Sauber team experienced a difficult weekend in India, but the engineers of the Swiss team have worked all week to understand what went wrong at the Buddh International Circuit. Solutions have been found and will be tested in Abu Dhabi, where James Key hopes his drivers can qualify better than in India.
Kamui Kobayashi failed to get past Q1 during the qualifying session of the Indian Grand Prix, and Sergio Perez could only manage the 17th and last time in Q2 – he eventually started 20th after a penalty for not respecting a double yellow flag during Free Practice 1.
The two Sauber drivers were unable to get their tires to function properly in India. The Pirellis were not heating up sufficiently on the C30 to reach a good temperature and provide good grip, which caused significant problems, as explained by James Key, Sauber’s technical director, although the engineers hope to have found some solutions.
« The car will be the same as in India. We have, however, worked on several approaches for mechanical settings, after our difficult qualifying session in India, where we simply couldn’t get the tires to work. But we think Abu Dhabi will be better, yet we have studied this issue and will bring new ideas to ensure everything is under control if the tires pose a problem again, » James Key revealed.
The Swiss team still managed to score a point in the race thanks to Sergio Perez’s 10th place, but with Jaime Alguersuari’s strong performance, the Swiss team is now tied with Toro Rosso, and the goal in Abu Dhabi will be simple: to score new points to get ahead of Toro Rosso.
«I am looking forward to this race (in Abu Dhabi), and as always, I will be determined to get the most out of the car and score as many points as possible, » said Sergio Perez.
But before being able to score points, the two Sauber drivers will need to properly set up their cars, which will not be an easy task because the Yas Marina circuit presents a challenge for engineers, with three very distinct sectors.
« The circuit itself is composed of three distinct sectors. The first is quite short with medium and high-speed corners. The second is dominated by several chicanes and two long straights, so low drag and good efficiency will be two important factors. The third sector requires a lot of aerodynamic downforce for the corners taken at low and medium speeds. But finding the right level of downforce and the right balance for this circuit will be a crucial part of our work on Friday, » explains Key.
Last year, the Yas Marina circuit also proved that it didn’t make overtaking easy – Fernando Alonso was stuck behind Vitaly Petrov for nearly 20 laps without being able to pass. But James Key thinks that the DRS will change the situation this season.
«Abu Dhabi was a fantastic race last year when the championship was decided here. One of the factors of the race was the overtaking, which was difficult. This is something we must keep in mind for this year, even though the DRS should help with overtaking, » stated James Key.
