周冠宇

Barcelona, 22 June 2024 – KICK Sauber F1 Team gave itself a very good shot at fighting for the points in tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix, as Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu both claimed a spot in Q2 during qualifying in Barcelona. Extracting the most from their C44s – both of which were equipped with the latest upgrades developed in Hinwil – the KICK Sauber F1 Team duo set the 12th and 15th fastest times in Q2, and will start tomorrow's race ready to go on the attack for a place in the top ten.

Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Team Representative: "Barcelona, as a more traditional track layout, gives us an important chance to evaluate our package and the balance of the car in a known setting. Today, we could see that we made progress as a team with the introduction of the latest package, and through the good execution by everyone at the track. We can be happy about today's result, for which we have to pay tribute to all the effort made in Hinwil in the last few months to constantly bring updates to the track. We know this is the best way to close the gap with our rivals and bring both our cars into a position in which they're consistently fighting for points. Everyone is doing their best to recover: today we were able to stay ahead of both RBs and the Williamses, plus one Haas car – our main competitors on track. Both Valtteri and Zhou had solid sessions and got together their best sectors when it mattered most. Valtteri was very close to Q3 but, in any case, his position gives us confidence that he can fight from the start for points on his own merit. We are really happy for Zhou: after three difficult races, he got back to the position where he should be. He gained more confidence and looked comfortable during qualifying – this is really positive for both him and the team. Now, we need to focus on tomorrow's race: there's a job that needs to be finished. We feel we can play our cards and we will do everything to put both our drivers in a position to fight for a place in the top ten."

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77):

KICK Sauber F1 Team C44 (Chassis 03/Ferrari)

FP3: 14th / 1:14.024 (19 laps)

Q1: 1:12.758 (6 laps)

Q2: 12th / 1:12.227 (6 laps)

"It's good to see both cars getting into Q2: the feeling on track was good today, and the weekend has been quite decent so far. We definitely have a better car this weekend compared to previous events, I have felt confident with it all weekend so far; the new parts we have brought have surely played their role as well, allowing us to make a small, but concrete step. I think this result was the maximum we could achieve today, that’s where we are with our pace at the moment – and it's not that far from Q3 either, which is definitely encouraging. I reckon this is the best chance at points we've had this season so far, but the job is obviously only halfway done: we need to be at the top of our game tomorrow, to convert this position into an actual shot at the top ten."

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24):

KICK Sauber F1 Team C44 (Chassis 02/Ferrari)

FP3: 19th / 1:14.572 (17 laps)

Q1: 1:12.880 (9 laps)

Q2: 15th / 1:12.738 (6 laps)

"It feels really good to have made it back into Q2 today but, while this is a good result, it's equally important for me that the feeling in the car and my confidence are back. We knew that getting out of Q2 might be tough since we already used a new set of tyres in Q1, forcing us to start on used softs before switching to a new set., but we can't complain with the final outcome. We took a step back and made a bit of a reset this weekend: the last few races had been tough, so we opted for some significant changes, including swapping my chassis – and it feels like things are coming together much better now. I am also happy to see that we have made a step forward and have been much quicker as a team this weekend: we'll continue working hard to turn these better grid positions into a good result tomorrow, even though we know that the top ten looks very strong at the moment."