Bottas opens up on Sauber’s ‘not great’ 2024 F1 points drought

Valtteri Bottas has asserted that Sauber is “motivated” to end its pointless run in the 2024 Formula 1 season, despite conceding that the team’s situation is “not great”.

Sauber has headed into the annual summer break languishing bottom in the Constructors’ Championship as the one team that doesn’t have a single point to its name.

The Hinwil-based squad started the present ground effect regulation era on an encouraging note as it accumulated 51 points across the opening nine rounds in 2022.

However, the Sauber-owned team has amassed 20 points in the 49 rounds since then as its advantage dissipated once other sides reached the minimum weight limit.

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Bottas, whose current contract expires once this season ends, has reiterated that Sauber’s impending evolution into Audi in 2026 has proven a hindrance to its results.

“I miss that sort of feeling I had with this team in the beginning, of course, because the sport is always more fun when you’re having better results,” Bottas said.

“So, of course, you’ll miss the times when you have a good car, compared to the others.

“And like I mentioned, we’ve just definitely have a different feeling from my first year.

“There was the plan for the three-year project that I signed up with. But things have changed quite a bit since, but things do change sometimes, that’s to be expected.

“At the end of the day, my job still doesn’t change, it is to try and make the most out of every weekend, try and give the best feedback. So that never changes.”

The Finn has admitted that even earning a singular point would represent an achievement considering Sauber’s uncompetitive predicament with a revamped C45 car.

Asked to assess the team’s position as it stands, Bottas replied: “Not great. If I’m honest. Especially, if I look at the standings, it just doesn’t look like it should be.

“So, we’re not in a good position at the moment. But the good thing is that we still have halfway to go. And then now, even getting one point would be something.”

Nonetheless, Bottas, who bagged 10 race wins during his time with Mercedes, has claimed that Sauber’s on-track struggles have not lowered his motivation to deliver.

“Even to get one point that’s now the motivation for the whole team,” he repeated. And for me, that’s why I turn up, I want to get points.

“I still need to keep me motivated and do my absolute best no matter what are the circumstances.”

Bottas has proclaimed that Sauber’s lacklustre pace has meant that it has had to attempt audacious strategies this season in a bid to overcome quicker competitors.

“At the moment, we’ve been in a situation that we have had tried to do some different things with the strategy, quite often we’ve split the cars with the strategy,” he said.

“And unfortunately, we’re in a position so far that by pure pace we’re not getting points.

“I think the closest we got was in China, which was actually, I think, performance-wise our best weekend but then we had the PU failure.

“Let’s see now with the new package [in Hungary] if that brings us closer, and hopefully we don’t have to be as radical with certain things, with the strategy to score points.”