The Sauber drivers never leave each other’s side in the streets of Baku
For the second time this season, Sauber was able to score points, once again through Pascal Wehrlein. But the pit wall played its part...
Sauber experienced one of the most turbulent weekends in its history, with the announcement of the immediate departure of its CEO, Monisha Kaltenborn. One of the burning questions was the management of the drivers, with suspicions of favoritism in favor of Marcus Ericsson at the expense of Pascal Wehrlein. While the Swede refused to acknowledge it, the German’s statements allowed for reading between the lines…
One thing is certain: the debate will not be closed at the end of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. But this time, the question arises in the opposite direction, and Marcus Ericsson does not fail to highlight it since he let his teammate pass at the end of the race: « Following the new start, I managed to rejoin the race well, but unfortunately, debris on the track damaged the rear-right part of my floor. I then had difficulties handling left corners and subsequently struggled to maintain my pace. Pascal was behind me, with Stoffel (Vandoorne) in his mirrors. The gap between my teammate and Stoffel thus reduced. I received the order to let Pascal pass to ensure we secured a point for the team, which I did. »
He then drives the point home by clearly recalling his contribution to this fifth point of the season: “In the end, it’s a good result for the team, although it’s a shame that it wasn’t me who scored this point considering that I was in that 10th place for a good part of the race. However, I played a decisive role for this point by keeping Stoffel behind me in the final laps,” he added, even though he hasn’t scored points since the 2015 Italian Grand Prix.
His teammate doesn’t go as far as to thank his teammate but acknowledges the teamwork, which allowed him to score points for the third time: « This 10th place is the result of a colossal effort by the team. We gave everything we could, and we demonstrated our dedication when it was most needed. »
The new team management will therefore have to manage and deal with an equally tense internal situation.
