Nasr banking on luck to score points for Sauber

While luck is not a strategy, it appears it is Sauber's only hope of scoring points in the remainder of 2016, according to Felipe Nasr.

The Hinwill-based outfit is the only team on the grid which has not finished a single race in the top ten this season, presenting therefore a desolate zero-point tally.

Sauber only has five races left to try and improve its state of affairs or risk enduring its second point-less campaign in three years.

Nasr believes the Swiss outfit will be hard-pressed to accomplish such a feat on its merit, and is now forced to rely on luck or exceptional circumstances to end its drought.

"We have some minor updates coming into Japan so let's reassess where we're going to be," said the Brazilian.

"We just need a bit of luck, we need the safety car playing in our hands. At the moment, external facts have to come together and then we might get a point that way.

"But purely on pace, myself or Marcus [Ericsson], we don't have the pace to be in the points."

Last weekend's Malaysia Grand Prix brought Nasr another retirement when his car was hit by a terminal brake-by-wire failure. But both Saubers were slow off the line again in Sepang prompting the team to investigate potential clutch issues.

"I had an awful start off the line," Nasr told Autosport.

"We got the bite on the formation lap, it was good. We went to the start, I just dropped massively going into Turn 1.

"They are looking at the clutch, as Marcus had a similar thing as well. If you look at the footage, we had quite a good jump and then we stay [there], we don't drive off the next 100 metres, it's just really poor."

F1i's driver ratings for the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix

FULL REPORT: Ricciardo wins in Malaysia as Hamilton retires from lead

Breakfast with... Gianni Morbidelli

Silbermann says ... Bugged by Liberty

Romain Grosjean exclusive column: Haas can build momentum for 2017

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter