Sauber had a difficult Friday leading up to the Saudi Arabian GP. Nico Hulkenberg rounded up his Free Practice 2 with a 1:29.193. Meanwhile, Gabriel Bortoleto was not able to run the course due to a fuel leak.
Fuel leak massive blow to Bortoleto’s weekend
Sauber ‘s Bortoleto said that it was essentially impossible for the team to fix the fuel leak in time speaking after the end of FP2 ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP. Though frustrated, the Sauber driver gave props to the team for trying to get a fix in a slim timeframe.
“Definitely not ideal, especially in a high-speed track like this. I think the second fastest track of the championship. My first time with the Formula 1 car here, so obviously quite frustrating. But nothing the team could do about it, it happens.”
“It’s things that unfortunately [..] can happen and luckily the team figured out as soon as possible after FP1 and tried to make it in time, but basically impossible.“
“There will need to be a change for tomorrow and yeah, no possible run today, but at least good to see Nico [Hulkenberg] P9, so it means not a bad window to be.”
Damage limitation for Bortoleto
Bortoleto was then asked how much he learned in FP1 and how much he’ll have to rely on teammate Nico Hulkenberg’s input. The 20-year-old said that he wasn’t able to learn much, and FP2 was the representative session.
“Well, a little bit,” he said. “A little bit of learning in FP1, but not really much, I did some laps. But FP2, most representative session of the weekend before qualifying.
“It’s the best time of the day to do the practise and understand a bit your settings for quali and it’s a shame I couldn’t do it.“
“But it’s part of the game, we move on and now I will listen to what Nico has to say and we move on.“
He then added that Sauber can’t 100% rely on one driver to say which needs to be changed. As every driver has their own driving preferences and styles to get themselves comfortable with.
“Well, every driver drives a little bit different than each other, so you cannot rely a hundred percent in only one feedback, so it’s always better if you can drive it, but in that case as I didn’t do it, we need to rely on that.”
‘Better Friday’ for Hulkenberg than last weekend
On the other side of the aisle, Nico Hulkenberg took a bunch of positives. Saying that it’s one of their better practice sessions so far. So far as saying that the Sauber car felt more comfortable ahead of the Saudi Arabian GP than last weekend.
“Yeah, I think one of the better Fridays. I mean, we didn’t have so many this year yet, but it was one of the better ones for sure.”
“I think the car somehow from P1 felt a little bit more comfortable, a bit more at home on this track compared to last weekend, which is obviously nice and good news.”
“And after that, yeah, typical Friday, playing around with the setup a bit, learning about tyres and yeah, that’s it.”
Speaking about fellow teammate and F1 newcomer Gabriel Bortoleto, he said that it was very compromising for him. He then added that he’ll help make the most out of it for the team.
“Yeah, it’s obviously very compromising for Gabriel [Bortoleto], who is here, you know, first time in a Formula One car.”
“That’s far from ideal. Obviously, not, you know, what anybody wanted in the team. But unfortunately, yeah, obviously it happened and, you know, it was a big problem. It was, of course, not intentionally.”
“So yeah, obviously he will try, you know, to do damage limitation tomorrow. But yeah, not the best preparation for sure. And we’ll just, you know, try to make the most of it from here.“
Asked what is his target, he responded “A good Saturday.”
