The 2025 F1 Bahrain GP was yet another disappointing weekend for Sauber as the team leaves the track empty handed for the third weekend in the row. Nico Hülkenberg, who had made up 3 positions over the 57 laps, initially ended the race in P13. However, he was later disqualified from the race due to excessive skid block wear. His rookie teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto did not have a better weekend himself as he finished the race in P18.
Nico Hülkenberg drawing positives from the weekend
While the results of the race may not have been what he wanted, Hülkenberg’s initial P13 finish is still an improvement from the previous weekends. He had finished P16 in Suzuka and P15 in Shanghai.
When reflecting on the F1 Bahrain GP, the German driver admitted that the Sauber C45 was overall really weak at Sakhir. Tyre struggles were inevitable with the tarmac surface of the track which affect the car’s overall performance.
While they may have left the track with no points, they are able to extract some valuable data from the car’s performance. Data which would hopefully help improve the car in the subsequent races.
“I think [tough afternoon] somewhat expected. I think this is a track that really brings out car weaknesses.
“It’s such a balanced track and with the rough tarmac the conditions are very tough, very hard on tyres. So whilst obviously we didn’t get anything, still I think some interesting lessons and learnings for us there for the future.“
Realities of the car
“I don’t know, I don’t know to be honest,” Is Hülkenberg’s answer when asked where the car realistically is at. For now, he is still unable to get a clear judgement. He speaks on how traffic during the grand prix was instead the major factor he faced.
“I don’t know, I don’t know to be honest. In Suzuka it didn’t feel that bad but we were in traffic all race so it’s difficult to make any sort of good judgement here.
“Again I was a bit offset from everyone else in the race. But we suffer a lot in traffic which is obviously a major problem when it comes to lap one and safety car restarts. It’s quite entertaining in the car and survival.
“So yeah, it’s a process still.”
Sauber C45 vs dirty air in the F1 Bahrain GP
During the Chinese Grand Prix, both Sauber drivers had major moment on the first lap. An effect of dirty air on track, a problem that only continued to worsen.
While dirty air affects every driver on track, Sauber seems to be affected the worst in races, and when asked if it was one if the car’s major weakness, Hülkenberg says he can’t draw a conclusion, stating the F1 Bahrain GP could have just been particularly harsh on them.
“Potentially, maybe. I think every race car doesn’t like dirty air obviously and it’s going to lose. But I think there are different levels of how much you lose and also the proportions between front and rear.
“So it’s a bit more complex than that. I think here it was just a tough circuit for us and that’s it.“
Falling behind
During pre-season testing in Bahrain, it became clear that the midfield was going to be tight this season. Every single team has already scored in 2025, although Aston Martin and Sauber got all theirs in Australia.
Sauber has yet to fully catch up with the midfield. Still, Hülkenberg is optimistic with the team’s strategy and he’s looking forward to the next race.
“Yeah, I think we’re still a little bit on the back foot and a small step behind. That is quite significant though. It makes a big difference.
“And if you can’t start ahead, if you don’t have that track position, that makes it even harder and impossible to come through.
“Like I said, I think quite a few interesting things that we did this weekend. This track is very unique and specific, Jeddah. I think it’s very, very different. So we’ll see how it feels there.”
The struggles for Gabriel Bortoleto
Bahrain is known for overtaking on track, as a result giving everyone plenty of battles to look at. This made the race even more frustrating for Gabriel Bortoleto as he could not stick to close to the car in front without losing downforce.
“Yeah, it’s a tough race. You know, even when we have pace, it’s just so difficult. One of the easiest tracks to overtake of the season.
“It’s just so tough. I cannot be too close to the car ahead, I lose downforce, I just cannot follow very close, and then it’s impossible to overtake.“
Just like his veteran teammate Nico Hülkenberg, Gabriel Bortoleto admitted that the team is struggling, especially in the dirty air.
“I think so, yeah. I mean, I’ve not driven other cars to see that, but that has been the case since race one, me and Nico, we have been suffering a lot in lap ones, restarts and stuff.
“And this is clearly dirty air, I cannot even keep my head straight in the straight line when I’m close to a car ahead because I keep going left and right to the helmet, so it’s just so bad.
“But yeah, it is what it is now, we need to work as a team and improve. It’s just the beginning of the season, it’s very early, it looks like there’s a lot of races already because it’s one after the other, but still a long journey ahead and we’re going to do better.”
Boring races and room for improvement
This is Gabriel Bortoleto’s rookie season in F1. The reigning F2 Champion however isn’t racing as hard as he’d like, stating that his lap one mishaps are the key factor affecting his race right now. He explained that the subsequent laps are mainly maintaining pace.
“I mean, it’s defined in the race in lap one and then it gets a very boring race, just setting pace after pace and it is what it is.“
For now, Sauber will need to focus on understanding why they’re so affected by dirty air and how they can improve the set ups.
“We need to work to understand how to put it in a better window and well, definitely now with what we have, I think it’s difficult to do something very big for the next race, but for the future we need to understand how and why our car cannot follow that close and how we struggle so much in dirty air and try to fix it.“
