Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley is refusing to back down in Formula 1’s fierce midfield battle, declaring that a sixth-place finish in the Constructors’ Championship remains within reach – even as the margins tighten heading into the final rounds of the 2025 season.
With just 12 points separating Sauber in ninth from Racing Bulls in sixth, and four rounds still to go – including two sprint weekends, the battle for the upper midfield remains wide open.
Despite a tough outing at last weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, where Gabriel Bortoleto claimed a solitary point in 10th and Nico Hülkenberg retired, Wheatley says the fight is far from over.
“So let's look at the points table first of all,” he said after the race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
“So Haas took a big chunk out of us today in the championship. Knocks us down to P9, as I sit here today. But the margins are really close in the points.
“One good weekend can swing it in a completely different direction. Genuinely, mathematically, P6 isn't out of all realms of possibility.”
Gains Every Race Weekend
Wheatley, Red Bull’s former sporting director who took charge of Sauber earlier this year, praised his new team’s growing cohesion and execution under pressure.
“We talked before about how well you have to execute every race because the margins are so close,” he said. “And I think for a young team that's growing and knitting together, we're doing a reasonable job of that at the moment. And I can feel the continuous improvement.
©Sauber
“I can feel the gains every race weekend. But we're still punching against teams that are really established and have got strong engineering teams that have been working together for a long time.
“So I love it. It's a championship. We're in the hunt. And I'll never give up until it's mathematically impossible.”
With the season barreling toward its climax, Sauber’s got everything to play for. One stellar weekend could flip the script, and Wheatley’s betting on his team to deliver.
P6? It’s not just possible – it’s personal for the Briton.
Read also: Bortoleto hails ‘solid point’ after gritty Mexico fightback
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