Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu will both start Sunday’s Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix from the pit-lane after Sauber elected to make changes to both vehicles under Parc Ferme regulations.
It was another miserable qualifying session for Sauber on Saturday as both Bottas and Zhou succumbed to Q1 exits, with the latter posting the slowest time.
With little to gain from their respective grid positions, Sauber has taken the opportunity to break parc ferme by adjusting the rear wing specification on both Bottas and Zhou’s machines.
Bottas has also received new power unit components on his car.
With both Saubers starting from pit lane, Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon have been promoted to 17th and 18th on the grid respectively.
Sauber remains the sole F1 outfit without a point so far this season and the team’s poor showing in qualifying, followed by this latest development that will see its cars start from pit lane likely rules out any chance of the Hinwil-based squad ending its barren run in Montreal.
Speaking after qualifying, Bottas said “We were definitely close to Q2 today, just about hundredths of a second away from making the cut – which obviously leaves us with the feeling we could have achieved something more.
“The last push lap was really clean, actually the cleanest I have had this weekend so far, and the balance was decent as well; it didn’t feel like we could squeeze much more out of that.
“In terms of track conditions, they were slippery at first, but it gradually improved. Unfortunately, we are still slightly struggling in terms of single-lap pace – that’s mostly it.”
Zhou, who crashed twice during practice and was the slowest of Saturday’s competitors said “Today was quite tricky – coming into qualifying without preparation on dry laps is never easy.
“During the morning session, I had a moment that ended FP3 early for me, and while I was able to gain more and more time on every qualifying lap, it wasn’t enough to catch up on my missed session.
“The field is still very close, and I reckon we’re not far off our competition but, given the lack of running, I wasn’t able to find the perfect rhythm.”
Discussion about this post