Valtteri Bottas is waiting to have more highlights in F1 2024, as he notes that their updates in 2023 didn’t bring them the step they wanted.
It wasn’t the year Bottas was hoping for in 2023 especially after having a sound one in 2022. Sauber were not in the game despite a decent start. As the year progressed, the inconsistency was out in the open as they just couldn’t score points regularly.
They did manage to leapfrog Haas towards the end but they were beaten by both Williams and AlphaTauri. For Bottas, Bahrain is the only real highlight as he is waiting for more in 2024. “Qatar? All I can remember that it was hot, I don’t even know where I finished,” he said. “So highlights?
“I think, sadly, I would say that the very first race of the season, we had a solid weekend, scored immediately, everything was looking quite good. But then it’s been a tough ride. There’s been a few occasions we have scored, but not enough times. So I’m definitely waiting for more highlights next year with a new car.”
There is not one area that Bottas can pinpoint for Sauber to improve. The team has already decided on having a brand new machine in 2024 where they admitted that they simply didn’t more remaining in the 2023 concept to exploit and take it further.
“We brought upgrades pretty consistently all through the year like any team but some have been decent steps, some really minor so we haven’t found anything big throughout the season,” said Bottas. “It’s been steady progress but that’s not enough.
“Meanwhile some other teams they have found big steps, new concepts, innovative things, some might be copying other teams but still we just did steady progress but in this sport, that’s not always enough. And ultimately, the biggest thing was how the car was born. It was definitely born better than 2022’s car but not better enough.
“That’s just how it goes so there’s not one thing that is lacking, so that’s why I’m really pleased that we’re trying to think a bit outside the box now, and with also all the new people we have on board and that will be coming on board. In this sport, with the margins we have, it’s everything.
“There’s nothing fundamental but the good thing is we do have a completely new car with some new ideas with new people in the team and that’s exactly what we need now. So we need to make big steps over the winter. That’s the key,” summed up Bottas.
Here’s F1 2023 teams’ tier order: https://formularapida.net/f1-2023-teams-categorised-in-tier-system-for-their-performances/
Here’s F1 2023 drivers’ tier order: https://formularapida.net/f1-2023-drivers-categorised-in-tier-system-for-their-performances/
Here’s Sauber adopting ‘Stake F1 Team’ name
Here’s Sauber on James Key and drivers
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact
