Sauber may have suffered from a poor qualifying performance, but they made up for Saturday’s woes with 12 championship points with both cars in the top ten.
Team principal Peter Sauber hailed the result ‘fantastic’, particularly praising Sergio Pérez who started from last after a gearbox change demoted him five places on the grid.
“Both drivers delivered a fantastic race, especially Sergio, starting from last and finishing eighth,” he said.
“However, this is only possible with a fast car. I’m very happy that we were able to fight back after a difficult qualifying. A big thank you to the team at the track and also the people back in Hinwil for designing a great car. We went into this season with high expectations and were able to deliver today.”
Meanwhile Pérez was pleased with his result, which contributed to Sauber sitting third in the Constructors’ championship behind McLaren and Red Bull, but lamented losing a place to Nico Rosberg on the final lap after he backed off following Pastor Maldonado’s accident.
“After I had to start last on the grid because of changing the gearbox I knew I had to try everything to gain positions right after the start,” said the Mexican. “I managed to get into 12th behind Kamui and touched his car while he had to avoid crashing into the Williams car in front of him. My front wing was then damaged and this was only one of the difficulties I had today during the race. I also had to save tyres, also for some time fuel, and I had to fight to defend my position.
“It really was a tough race for me. Then on the very last lap Pastor (Maldonado) crashed and I backed off because of the debris. But then Nico (Rosberg) overtook me, our cars touched and I had to finish the race with tyres that were completely gone. Of course I’m not happy to have lost my position on the final lap, but I am very happy for the team because finishing sixth and eight is a good start to the season.”
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