2024 Singapore Grand Prix – Saturday

Singapore, 21 September 2024 – Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber faced a challenging qualifying session under the floodlights at the Singapore Grand Prix, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu setting the 19th and 20th times, respectively. Despite the team’s best efforts, both drivers struggled to extract more performance from the car, leaving both of them with tough starting positions for tomorrow’s race.

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: “We came to Singapore knowing that this circuit does not suit our car and even amplifies certain limitations we have in terms of balance. Unfortunately, today’s qualifying session confirmed our prediction: already this morning, we saw that the car’s balance was not really there, and it was difficult for both drivers to have a predictable car throughout the session. We struggled mainly with the rear of the car, both in terms of entry stability and traction, and during qualifying, we could only record another last-row finish. This means we need to fight in the race to take advantage of any opportunity. We cannot give up: it’s just Saturday, and we have a full race ahead of us; today was a difficult day, but nothing is totally lost for tomorrow.”

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber C44 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)
FP3: 19th / 1:32.098 (17 laps)
Q1: 19th / 1:31.572 (9 laps)

“As the results show, it’s been a tough qualifying session. We tried to extract every bit of performance we could this weekend so far but, ultimately, it just wasn’t enough. This track really exposed some of our weaknesses, particularly in single-lap pace. We’re hoping for a stronger showing tomorrow, but regardless, we’ll aim to optimise everything and push for the best possible result. We’ll keep fighting hard before the mini break, when we can regroup and focus on improving for the future.”

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber C44 (Chassis 04/Ferrari)
FP3: 20th / 1:32.652 (19 laps)

Q1: 20th / 1:32.054 (9 laps)
“We were expecting to experience a tough qualifying session, and seeing how far we are from Q2 confirms that it was always going to be a challenge. Making the cut wasn’t realistic today, as we’ve been lacking overall performance; most surprising, though, was that it was very difficult to find a balance that would allow us to push fully, compared to what we experienced yesterday. We now focus on working together as a team and making improvements where we can. Our attention shifts fully to the race, where anything can happen, and we’ll give it our all. Hopefully we can be a bit more competitive in the race and mix it up with the rest of the pack, as we were able to do last week in Baku.”