Sauber and Pérez aim for a new podium at Silverstone

The Sauber team has shown competitiveness since the start of the season, notably achieving two podiums thanks to Sergio Pérez; the young Mexican hopes to claim a third at Silverstone during the British Grand Prix: « I believe our car will be strong at Silverstone, and I want to fight for another podium there. In my opinion, it is even more difficult to overtake at Silverstone than in Valencia, so qualifying will be the top priority. I need to secure a better position on the grid than recently. »

Pérez is all the more confident because he particularly appreciates the layout set in the British countryside: « I really like the Silverstone circuit. I won there in Formula 3 and GP2, and last year my first Formula 1 race was good. I finished in 7th position, which was my best result for 2011. It was a crazy race in difficult weather conditions with a drying track. »

His teammate, Kamui Kobayashi, is also a big fan of Silverstone and he thinks the C31 should be competitive there: « I am really looking forward to this race, and my expectations are very high. Silverstone is one of my favorite tracks. Our cars have always been good in medium and high-speed corners, but with the Sauber C31, we have also improved performance in slow corners, which means we shouldn’t encounter any problems in the new part of the track, introduced in 2010. »

The Japanese driver aims for a good result in England despite a penalty: « Despite having received a penalty, which will push me back 5 places on the grid, I am optimistic about this race. I think we have the potential to achieve something special in England and I hope to have a bit more luck than usual. »

Sergio Pérez is looking forward to being at Silverstone because the atmosphere is always good: « I love fast and flowing corners, so it’s a large part of the circuit. The race at Silverstone is a special Grand Prix thanks to the fans and the atmosphere and also for me. I lived in Oxford for three years and have good friends in England. »

On the technical side, the British track will be a different challenge from the last races as explained by Giampaolo Dall’Ara, head of track engineers: « The Silverstone Circuit is very different from the last two tracks we visited. It has some high-speed corners that pose a real challenge and it requires optimized settings for aerodynamics as well as direction changes. »

Dall’Ara believes, like Sergio Pérez, that overtaking will not be easy despite the presence of a DRS zone: « Silverstone has the charm of old circuits with a surface that is not perfect and quite bumpy in some places. It also offers some real challenges for drivers. The straights are not very long, so it is possible to drive with a lot of downforce. The DRS zone is in the same place as last year, in a section that was built a few years ago. Its length is limited, which means that overtaking is not easy. »

He also believes that the tires should not pose a problem in Great Britain, but the factor to watch will be the weather and the possible appearance of rain: « We will run with Soft and Hard tires, which should be perfectly suitable according to me, and tire overheating should not be an issue. Another important factor at Silverstone is the weather, it’s an aspect we take into account when preparing for this weekend, and something we may need to adapt to during the race. »

Like his drivers, Giampaolo Dall’Ara is confident about the C31’s performance at Silverstone, especially since the Swiss single-seater will feature some new updates: “Our Sauber C31 will have aerodynamic updates, including modifications to the engine cover and the rear of the car. Given the characteristics of this track and the strengths of our car, I believe we can approach this weekend with a lot of optimism.”