Emilia Romagna Grand Prix – Friday Report

Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber returned to Emilia Romagna after two years to find a bumpier track than what was experienced during their last visit. The morning session was briefly interrupted by a red flag, but both drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, tackled the challenging windy conditions with gusto. The team brought an updated floor to Imola, which has already been fitted to Valtteri’s car, while Zhou will drive with the new parts from tomorrow’s FP3 onwards. The team is confident in the positive direction the car has taken and will continue working on the setup overnight.

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):

Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber C44 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)

FP1: 16th / 1:18.827 (23 laps)

FP2: 16th / 1:17.088 (28 laps)

“It was quite windy out there, and bumpy as well — that is pretty much today in a nutshell. Still, it’s great to be back racing on this track. Given the tricky conditions, we had to make some compromises in terms of setup, and only partly began evaluating the new bits on our car, which will be the main task for FP3 tomorrow morning. We expect slightly different weather conditions tomorrow, which should be closer to what were going to have in Qualifying and during the race. There is some work to do overnight, but l’m confident we’ll be able to extract more performance from our car and come prepared ahead of Qualifying.”

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):

Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber C44 (Chassis 04/Ferrari)

FP1: 17th / 1:19.129 (18 laps)

FP2: 19th / 1:17.606 (28 laps)

“It was good to be back racing in Imola after two years. Today has proven to be more difficult than expected, as the red flag and some changes on the car cost us some time, however, we had a clean session in the afternoon. We tried a few different setups and still have to work on the balance of the car, but I am positive that we can make some progress tomorrow. The track is much bumpier than last time, and there’s quite a bit of changing wind – especially in the last two corners. Tomorrow, my car will be fitted with the new floor, which should give me more load and grip, and — with the team’s work and changes to the car – more confidence.”