Sauber approaches China with confidence

The Sauber F1 team celebrated Sergio Pérez’s podium in Malaysia in style, but since then the team has gotten back to work, just like the Mexican driver, even though he took advantage of the break to celebrate his first F1 podium at home in Mexico: “I’m really looking forward to the Chinese Grand Prix. I enjoyed this little break after the race in Malaysia, even though, especially at the beginning, I was very busy returning to Mexico. The celebration in Guadalajara was particularly incredible and I really enjoyed seeing my family and friends. However, I am really focused on the improvements to come and on continuing my training program.”

The Mexican driver knows he cannot afford to think about his podium; he must move forward and stay focused on the upcoming races, starting with China this weekend. He expects to see the C31 struggle in certain sections of the circuit, but he remains confident: We all have to keep our heads down and work hard. Our car can be competitive, and we must extract the best from it. Last year, I had a good start to the race in Shanghai, but then I had some contacts with other cars towards the end of the Grand Prix and was penalized. The high-speed corners of the track should suit our car. I particularly like turn one – it’s a very long and particularly challenging corner. The long straight should not be the easiest part for us, but once again, we will have to maximize our potential.

Kamui Kobayashi approaches this Chinese Grand Prix with enthusiasm as well because he has achieved great performances in the past at the Shanghai International Circuit: “I’ve always had a good feeling for this Grand Prix. I really like the Shanghai circuit because I enjoy the very high-speed corners, and it should suit our car. Last year, the race was a lot of fun and I scored a point after starting 13th.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, head of race engineers, believes that one of the keys to the Chinese weekend could be tire management: « We will have Soft and Medium tires. Longevity shouldn’t be an issue, but since the track is rarely used, there could be graining and significant wear levels at the beginning of the weekend.»

Kobayashi thinks that the lower temperatures expected in China compared to Malaysia should allow the C31 to be competitive, especially regarding the tires: The track temperatures could be lower than recently in Malaysia, I expect them to be like in Melbourne, and this should suit us and the tires better, but we need to see what happens once we are there. Whatever the case, I will go there with a very positive approach and after this little break it will be interesting to see who brings what innovations.

The engineers of the Sauber team know what to expect in Shanghai because they are familiar with the Chinese track. According to Giampaolo Dall’Ara, it is a circuit that can make the C31 suffer: « The Shanghai International Circuit is a very demanding track. Its features include several sections with a combination of braking and lateral forces as well as acceleration and lateral forces. This puts a lot of strain on the car in terms of braking stability and overall balance. »

An important element to consider for the qualifying session and the race will be top speed because with the long straight, you need to be fast to hope to overtake: The straights are important for lap times, especially the very long one where you need to have good speed during qualifying and the race to be able to overtake.