Sauber team boss, Peter Sauber was left underwhelmed by his teams performance in Bahrain after both drivers retired with hydraulic problems.
After impressing in pre-season testing, many thought Sauber would spring a surprise, however, both drivers failed to make Q3 and their race pace wasn’t anywhere near competitive enough.
“I obviously had different hopes for how I would return to Formula 1 as a team principal, particularly after our promising winter testing.”
“But even before the race our grid positions were disappointing,” said Sauber.
![Franco Colpinto [front] avoided Liam Lawson [back] at the start of the Australian GP](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Franco-Colapinto-F1-Aus-GP-120x86.webp)
“The race itself was okay from a performance point of view, with both drivers fighting for positions before they both stopped with a hydraulic problem. We have to analyse and to solve this problem very quickly.”
F1 testing veteran, Pedro de la Rosa had high hopes of scoring a point or two in the race after qualifying in P14, now that points extend to tenth.
“I actually had a good start, but then lost positions when I had to go off the track to avoid colliding with other cars. On the grass I lost acceleration and some cars were able to pass, so when I arrived at turn four I had lost several positions.
“Then I felt we had a car that was good enough to fight for points, and there still was a chance to achieve this when I was called into the pits on lap 29 because of an hydraulic problem.”
![Franco Colpinto [front] avoided Liam Lawson [back] at the start of the Australian GP](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Franco-Colapinto-F1-Aus-GP-350x250.webp)
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