Sunday: Sauber on the podium thanks to Pérez
Sergio Pérez was the standout performer at this Malaysian Grand Prix. The Mexican driver could have even won if not for a small mistake towards the end of the race. Nonetheless, he clinched his first F1 podium by finishing behind Alonso in what was a memorable day for the Swiss team Sauber F1. His teammate, Kamui Kobayashi, wasn't as fortunate, having to retire due to an issue with his braking system.
Sergio Pérez – 2nd
«It was a great day for me. The team did an amazing job and I’m really happy for them. It’s truly a very nice feeling to be on the podium here, but I think the victory was within our reach. Twice in the race, I was catching up to Fernando (Alonso). In our last stint, when I was on the Durs, my tires were degrading a lot. It wasn’t easy and I went wide and touched a curb. I was lucky not to go off in the end. Before that, Fernando pitted at the best moment to switch to slicks, one lap before me, and I lost ground.»
It was very difficult to make the right choices today and I want to thank my team. They always brought me in at the right time, the first stop after one lap was important and it was also the right choice to switch to the Hards at the end of the race, as the Mediums weren’t really working for us. This is only our second race in 2012 and I think a great season awaits us. I knew I had the potential to fight today, our car is not so far from the best cars and a good team and driver can make the difference in such conditions.
Kamui Kobayashi – Retirement
«It’s incredible for our team to achieve such a result today, but for me, it was obviously a disappointing race. Technically, I struggled with the brakes, and that’s why I had to retire after 47 laps. In addition, the strategy didn’t work for me, which is obviously easy to say in hindsight. I had a good start but then stayed on intermediates for a long time before switching to wets. It wasn’t easy to keep the car on track, and once I made my stop, the red flag was deployed. But no one can know in advance. Later in the race, it was the opposite. I would have loved to switch to slicks, but we were expecting even more rain, so I couldn’t change the intermediates I had.
Peter Sauber – Team Principal
What a fantastic result! Sergio delivered a memorable race and exceeded our expectations by far. What surprised me the most was his competitiveness regardless of the conditions and with all the tires. Whether on rains, intermediates, or slicks, he was always one of the fastest on the track, if not the fastest. This clearly demonstrates the potential of our car. I want to extend my compliments to Giampaolo Dall’Ara and his team for their excellent work with the strategy. A big thank you to everyone at the Hinwill factory as well. I’m sorry for Kamui who had to retire due to a technical problem. Nevertheless, it’s an important day for the team.
