Bottas acknowledges that the reaction time is too long at Sauber
Stake F1, formerly Alfa Romeo, has encountered significant difficulties in its development. The car has scarcely made any progress. Valtteri Bottas believes that this problem arises from the time delay between the data obtained on the track and those coming from the wind tunnel.
The Alfa Romeo team had a disappointing 2023 season. The development of the car throughout the year was considered insufficient, despite a good start to the championship in 2022. With the implementation of the new regulations, the Swiss manufacturer had managed to present a car compliant with the minimum weight allowed by the FIA at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas, the most experienced and prolific driver of Sauber, had scored points in seven out of the first nine races during his debut season in 2022. However, the shortcomings in development at Alfa Romeo ultimately relegated the team to 6th place.
The scenario repeated itself in 2023. Alfa Romeo was less competitive compared to its competitors, despite an initially satisfying car in the early races. Once again, development throughout the year was lacking, leading Alfa Romeo Sauber to finish in 9th place in 2023.
The identified improvements
The main challenge for the team now known as Stake F1 is development, despite the gradual takeover by Audi, allowing the team to reach the budget cap limits for the first time. The former Mercedes driver is convinced that by 2026 and Audi’s arrival, his team must improve its reaction speed. “For us at the moment, the way we can proceed with upgrades is a key area that needs to be addressed,” conceded the former Lewis Hamilton teammate to AutoSport. “For now, we need to be able to estimate how long it takes to test a setup in the wind tunnel and implement it in the car… It’s quite an important thing to assess compared to others.”
In addition to this reaction time problem, Valtteri Bottas emphasized areas for improvement on the car itself. The Alfa Romeo had numerous failures in 2023, notably a severe lack of speed. For the next season, Sauber managed to attract former McLaren technical director, James Key. Mechanically, there are a few things here and there to work on, both in terms of balancing tools and aerodynamics, analyzed the 34-year-old Finnish driver. James Key examined all the data, as well as the car’s aerodynamic behavior, yaw and roll angle. He saw certain things and fully agrees that there is room for improvement.
A satisfactory wind tunnel
Valtteri Bottas spent four seasons at Mercedes before joining Sauber. The Finnish driver won 10 Grand Prix during his time there and contributed to four constructor championships. Since his arrival at the Swiss team, the 34-year-old athlete has acknowledged significant differences in the infrastructure between the two teams. However, he remains convinced that Sauber can achieve positive things with their current resources.
« Some machines are a bit outdated, but I think the team is in order for now and trying to ensure that we don’t have any deficits in that area,” said Valtteri Bottas. « The good news is that the wind tunnel is very efficient. There is a large quantity of ovens for carbon curing. There is also less manpower compared to Mercedes, with far fewer people actually doing the material work.
While his current contract ends at the end of the 2024 season, Valtteri Bottas hopes to negotiate a future contract with Audi for 2026.
