Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu have once again urged their team to get on top of the pit stop troubles that have repeatedly undermined their races this season.
The Swiss outfit’s Australian Grand Prix was marred by yet another botched execution in the pitlane, one that set back Bottas by a staggering 30 seconds, dashing the Finn’s hopes of securing points despite a promising start and strong pace throughout the race.
It was the third race in succession in which Sauber fumbled its execution.
Earlier this month, a wheelnut malfunction undermined Bottas’ efforts in Bahrain, while Zhou was on the receiving end of a disastrous glitch in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking in the post-race interview, Bottas didn't mince words about the recurring problem.
"It's not great," he stated bluntly after concluding his afternoon a lowly P14. "We know we have work to do on those [pit stops].
“It’s frustrating because I think we had good pace, a good start, [and we] should have ideally got points with the performance we had. It’s tough.”
While acknowledging the team's efforts to rectify the issue, Bottas' patience seemed to be wearing thin.
“The position I was [in], with the DNFs happening, we definitely should have come out with points. A 30-second pit stop is not really acceptable, but we’re working on it.”
Zhou finished 15th in Melbourne, one spot behind his teammate. But like Bottas, the Chinese driver emphasized that resolving the pit stop issues was a top priority for Sauber.
“I think it didn’t make a massive change for my race, but clearly we still have some issues,” he said. “We need to investigate a little bit more what’s in that really.
“I can’t really explain much more than what I did. We need to see. Of course, it’s a point that, for sure, is the priority to fix for the remaining races because it’s very important.”
Still without points after three races, Sauber finds itself at the bottom of F1’s Constructors' standings alongside Williams and Alpine.
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