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Sauber scores 21 points in four races: only Renault was better

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Sauber scores 21 points in four races
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S auber has the 8th place in the designer -World Cup defended confidently. And just missed 7th place by 5 points. In the final sprint of the season, only Renault was better of the midfield teams. The French factory racing team scored 30 points in the last four races, with Sauber 21, HaasF1 and Force India 9th each.

If the Swiss team had started a little earlier, Force India or even McLaren would have been in trouble . 'A HaasF1 got in the way a few times too often in the last few races,' said one of the team. Marcus Ericsson concluded his last race for Sauber with the words: “We can all be proud of what we have achieved.”

Overall, the last one from last year scored 16 times. Charles Leclerc recently finished seventh with his car three times in a row. In Abu Dhabi even more would have been possible for Sauber, believes team manager Beat Zehnder. Once, because Ericsson didn't see the checkered flag: “Marcus would have landed safely in the points.”

The Swede's pit stop, who was 8th at the time of the retirement, was planned for lap 34. Ten laps earlier he rolled out. A crack in the exhaust caused the surrounding temperature to rise so much that the sensors and cables were scorched. The electrics got out.

Leclerc had to overtake two cars

The scholars argue about whether Charles Leclerc was properly advised with the pit stop in the VSC phase. In principle, the early stop was correct. Winner Lewis Hamilton demonstrated it. But Leclerc had to overtake Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnussen's cars immediately after the pit stop. The aggressive pace in the early life of tires took its toll. The temperature of the front tires climbed beyond the tolerable limit.

Wilhelm

Leclerc had toDrive slowly for a long time to get the tires back into your window. That's why he was stuck behind Fernando Alonso for so long. Zehnder is convinced that if the future Ferrari driver had cleared the way after the pit stop, his speed would have been sufficient to keep the gap to Carlos Sainz below the required 21 seconds. The Spaniard didn't pit until lap 37. With 23.5 seconds of air. “Renault wasn't faster than us,” insists Zehnder.

With 8th place, the demands increase

The risk of getting his hypersoft tires right in the safety car phase of the first lap to get rid of, Clean was too big. The supersoft rubbers were not trusted to run at racing speed. It got so close against Sergio Perez in the last few laps. The Mexican had nine laps of fresher tires. Leclerc also showed his class in defending his position. Perez was half a second faster per lap, but couldn't get past the Sauber for six laps.

The season ended with another highlight for Sauber. Team boss Vasseur recalled the ascent from the very bottom and regular steps forward. No team has improved as well as Sauber from the first to the last race. But now the demands are also increasing. 'The goals have become bigger, the motivation is high in all departments.' The 8th place must be followed by the next step in 2019 with Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi. And that's already certain: Establish yourself in the front midfield.

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