Sauber F1 Team Monza practices review 06.09.2013: Italian Grand Prix – Practice – Friday, 6.9.2013 Weather: sunny and dry, 28-31°C air, 30-45°C track

Italian Grand Prix – Practice – Friday, 6.9.2013




Weather: sunny and dry, 28-31°C air, 30-45°C track


During the free practice sessions for the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo di  Monza, the Sauber F1 Team continued testing the passive DRS system. Unfortunately FP1 ended early for Sauber F1 driver Nico Hülkenberg because of a gearbox issue.


The problem was located and repaired in time for the second session. For Esteban Gutiérrez it was a positive day and the team was able to run through the programme.


To highlight the new partnership between Grupo CP (Interprotección) and Unifin, which was announced this week, the rear wing end plate of the Sauber C32 is going to display Unifin’s logo for the Italian GP. Unifin is one of Mexico’s leading financial institutions specialising in Leasing, Factoring and Auto Credit.


Nico Hülkenberg:

Sauber C32-Ferrari (Chassis 03/Ferrari 056)
1st Practice: 18th / 1:27.224 min (16 laps) / 2nd Practice 16th / 1:26.385 min (43 laps)


“It was quite a challenging day. This morning was compromised a bit by a gearbox issue, which we were able to solve before the afternoon session. When doing the  long runs I felt more comfortable in the car than with low fuel.


We definitely have some room for improvement there. We have to look into the data and analyse what happened, because I think we can be more competitive. Otherwise, as usual, we were  learning about the tyres and the set-up.”



Esteban Gutiérrez:

Sauber C32-Ferrari (Chassis 04/Ferrari 056)
1st Practice: 11th / 1:26:194 min (25 laps) / 2nd Practice 12th / 1:25.888 min (40 laps)


“It was a very productive Friday, without any issues on the car. We were trying to find the right balance and set-up of the car in the morning. In the afternoon, we made a decision, which wasn’t the best.


Overall it looked positive and we have very good data to analyse so we can make the right decision about the set-up of the car tomorrow.”




Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering:

“We split the development items between the two cars today. In FP1 Esteban got further mileage on the passive DRS system that is targeted for races later this year. Unfortunately we lost some time in FP1 for Nico with a gearbox problem, which we were able to fix, so both cars ran reliably in FP2.


We evaluated some alternative rear wing levels and concentrated on the long run performance of the tyres at these high track temperatures in preparation for race day. It looks like the mid field is going to be tight. We still have some work to do to get the most out of the car and we’ll start out preparations for qualifying now.”      
 

Hanspeter Brack, Stephanie Weiser- photo Sauber F1