Sunday: An Austrian Grand Prix that did not smile upon Sauber
The return of F1 to Austria was not successful for Sauber: Esteban Gutierrez was released while a wheel was not properly attached, and this incident had a consequence on Adrian Sutil due to a misunderstanding.
Adrian Sutil (No. 99) – 13th
For the German, the race was rather decent until a miscommunication came into play: « I had a good start and was able to gain two positions in the first lap. Up until the 15th lap, after my first stop, everything went according to our plan. Suddenly, I received instructions over the radio to stop the car immediately. However, the communication was not meant for me, but for Esteban. After being told this, I immediately continued the race but had already lost a lot of time due to this incident. »
Esteban Gutierrez (No. 21) – 19th
The Mexican encountered an issue during his first stop, which greatly compromised his Grand Prix: « This is not a satisfactory race. We made a mistake during the first stop, the nut wasn’t tightened on the right rear wheel, so I had to stop in the pit lane and my mechanics brought me back. After that, I had a 10-second stop-and-go. »
He explains that Sauber’s decision to prioritize the race didn’t really work: « Apart from that, I was trying to get the most out of the car. I had a lot of blue flags, so I had to let other cars pass, which slowed down my lap times. We tried to compromise on qualifying to have a better race pace, but it doesn’t seem to have paid off. It was difficult to keep the tires alive. »
