2024 Italian Grand Prix – Saturday report
Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber suffered an early exit in Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu seeing their final attempts nullified by yellow flags and finishing in 19th and 20th.
It was a disappointing end to a session in which both cars looked in contention for a potential spot in Q2: this result will complicate matters in tomorrow’s race but, with Monza being a place in which overtaking is possible, the team will aim to make progress on Sunday.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: “After a difficult FP3 session, we were able to make some good improvements in terms of car handling and balance for Qualifying, something we displayed during the final laps. Both drivers reported a more balanced car throughout all range of corners: unfortunately, we’re left with a bitter taste as both drivers were improving on their final lap but had to slow down in Parabolica due to a yellow flag caused by Kevin Magnussen. Valtteri was close to entering Q2 until that moment and Zhou was significantly improving his lap time – almost running four tenths quicker compared to his last lap – and we believe that we had the potential to fight for Q2 today. We end the day with mixed feelings: on the positive side, we improved the car balance, but on the other side, we’re left with a difficult starting position. Here in Monza, nothing is lost: in terms of top speed, we are competitive within the midfield, so there’s still a chance to make up positions. We need to analyse all sessions of this weekend: with high temperatures and the new tarmac, graining and tyre degradation will be a key factor, so we need to have all elements under control to be best prepared for tomorrow’s race.”
Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):
Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber C44 (Chassis 04/Ferrari)
FP3: 19th / 1:21.357 (20 laps)
Q1: 19th / 1:21.101 (6 laps)
“It feels there was something more we could have achieved today, so I’m disappointed to be in P19: the first push lap I did was quite decent, and with the track improvement, I had every possibility to make it into Q2, only for the yellow flag towards the end of Q1 to take away that chance from us. The third practice session was more difficult than yesterday, so we opted to revert to the Friday settings for qualifying. The feeling was much better but, in the end, it was all down to luck and, unfortunately, the last run got halted by a yellow flag, so I couldn’t improve much. A question mark remains on where we could have ended up, as overall it seems like we are in a slightly better position than last weekend. Looking at tomorrow, tyre management will be crucial – hopefully, there’ll be some opportunities to catch our rivals and try and improve our positions on track.”
Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):
Stake F1 Team KICK Sauber C44 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)
FP3: 20th / 1:22.035 (18 laps)
Q1: 20th / 1:21.445 (9 laps)
“Today’s qualifying session was quite frustrating, as we know we could have got something more than we did. My final lap began promisingly, with an improvement over my previous runs – until cars in front of me started going off the track, forcing me to lift off and compromising my lap. As a result, I couldn’t set the lap time I was on pace for. I’m confident that, without these incidents, I would have achieved a higher starting position and would have been much closer to Q2. Despite the tough qualifying, the car definitely felt better than it did this morning: we’ll use this improved feeling to try and move forward in the race and learn as much as we can.”
