Team beat Red Bull in Melbourne just days after Van der Garde drama
Tuesday 24 March 2015 13:48, UK
Sauber chief Monisha Kaltenborn believes their double points finish in the season-opening Australian GP will act as a timely motivation boost to the beleaguered team, as they ended the most turbulent of weeks on an unexpected high.
Having spent the final months of last season battling for survival, Sauber found themselves engulfed in a legal storm in the build-up to the first race of 2015 as their former reserve driver Giedo van der Garde went to court to prove his claim to one of the team’s race seats.
The Dutch driver won his case and subsequently launched a contempt of court claim against Sauber, with a summons issued to both the team and Kaltenborn. After out-of-court talks, Van der Garde eventually withdraw his legal action on Saturday although further discussions are to be held between the parties in the forthcoming week.
Sauber’s prospects on the track at Melbourne had looked bleak after they opted to sit out Practice One amid the escalation of the dispute. However, the promise the C34 appeared to show during testing materialised in qualifying as new signing Felipe Nasr qualified 11th. Even better was to follow in the race on Sunday as the Brazilian rookie beat Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo to fifth place, while Marcus Ericsson came home eighth.
After going through the entire 2014 season without a single point for the first time in their history, Sauber already have 14 points on the board and Kaltenborn admitted the result was a huge boost for the team.
“It’s been too long,” she told reporters after the team finished in the top 10 for the first time since the 2013 Brazilian GP.
“It’s important for the motivation of the team. The team’s worked very hard through the winter and we had to make sure that not only on the power train there’s got to be improvements, there has to be on the chassis as well because the entire package has to be a competitive one.
“You could see certain potential already in the winter tests and I’m glad that we could show all the people who thought we were doing some kind of show runs out there that we didn’t.”
Although the C34 is clearly a better handling car than its predecessor, and the Swiss outfit have benefited from internal changes over the winter, Sauber’s sudden step forward at the start of 2015 has undoubtedly been significantly aided by the improvements engine suppliers Ferrari have managed to make with their turbo power unit.
The Scuderia’s Sebastian Vettel beat Williams to third in Melbourne and Kaltenborn admits the latest specification Ferrari engine is “a very big improvement”.
“They have really done a great job and pleasantly surprised everyone. You need that kind of a powertrain, it’s never just alone a car, it has to be the right package,” she said.
“It’s been a massive step and allows you to be in a position to score points and grab the opportunity. Last year we couldn’t have grabbed the opportunity, we were so far away. That’s the big difference to last year, to first of all through your own strengths be in a much better position and then when opportunities open to take them.”
With Renault-powered Red Bull struggling for form, and Honda-powered McLaren hideously off the pace, in the early stages of the season, Kaltenborn was nonetheless keeping her feet on the ground over Sauber’s 2015 prospects.
“This is a start. We remain realistic. You never know what’s going to happen in the next race and where the car will be, but at least the potential is there and it’s competitive,” she added.
