Will upgrades come to fruition for Sauber?
Valencia is next up on the F1 calendar as team Sauber look to improve on the failures in Montreal.
The European Grand Prix isn’t one of the most exciting races on the circuit but is certainly a big test for the drivers’ concentration.
The street like track will make it difficult to overtake but with attacking driving and rain anything can happen in this race.
The previous two races have seen Red Bull make mistakes and lose grip on the constructors as well as the individual championship, with McLaren’s two Brits picking up their race.
BMW will be looking for a little more, in qualifying and the race after both cars failed to finish the last race in Canada.
The circuit isn’t as exciting as the other street tracks on the calendar, but the Sauber team will be hoping for change.
Pedro De La Rosa is glad he can again try and prove himself after he failed on home turf at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona just a few months ago.
He has said;
“A little bit of a downer for the spectators is the fact that on both Spanish circuits overtaking is very difficult. Usually you don’t see much overtaking in Barcelona or Valencia. Turn two should be the best option for overtaking, but I have not driven the Valencia street circuit yet so there might also be others. In the two races I have finished this year I have been fighting for the points until the last few laps of each race. We will be bringing several new parts for the car so I expect a step forward here.”
Kumui Kobayashi has done well on Spanish circuits as at the Spanish GP he actually finished the race, which has been a problem for the team this season, and on that day in Barcelona he was unfortunate to miss out on points.
The young Japanese driver has picked up a championship point since then and will hope he can get into the points this weekend.
“From what I have seen so far the Valencia street circuit doesn’t seem to be the most exciting track, but I only know it from two GP2 races and racing there in Formula One will be different. I like driving over the bridge, which makes the track quite distinctive. It might not be as hot as last year when the race was two months later, but I still expect rather high temperatures, which is fine for me. It is another race in Spain, and in Barcelona we had one of our better weekends in terms of performance, so I hope we can achieve a positive result.”
As the team look to improve, technical director James Key will be hoping the changes and upgrades to the car will make a massive change in the team’s results.
With Sauber only finishing a handful of races this year, the team will now certainly be looking on improving for next year, making the right changes and upgrades t test out the car.
This could be an advantage against the likes of Renault who still have a chance for the title with Robert Kubica putting in impressive drives this term.
James Key has said;
“For Valencia we return to a higher downforce level, similar to what we had in Istanbul and a step up from what we had in Canada. The fact that Valencia is a street circuit with small run-off areas can make for an eventful race, so you have to stay away from the walls. The circuit is very stop-and-start, which means acceleration and braking performances are important with relatively slow speed corners in between each straight.
We have a new aero upgrade for the European Grand Prix, which should make the car more efficient and a little bit easier to set up. This is the first of our mid season updates. We have to see how we go in Valencia. We are looking to bounce back after a difficult weekend in Canada.”
Weekend Prediction:
1- Mark Webber
2- Jenson Button
3- Robert Kubica
The Saubers will have a long hard race and I expect the upgrades to show in this race, but with the Williams and Renaults looking bright the team will struggle to make it out of Q2 and therefore be in a race for the final point or two.
Kobayashi winning the team battle.
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