Sauber F1 is the only option for Giedo van der Garde in 2015

His session wasn’t ideal because he took a long time to identify the right settings to have, as is often the case during these sessions: « It’s always like that in FP1, you have to determine what the right level of downforce is, how far you can go. I started with very little wing, whereas the other car had a bit more aerodynamic support. At first, the track was very green. So it wasn’t ideal to have little downforce. But then we switched because I was suffering from understeer. I was thus able to improve my times with a set of used tires. My time was pretty good, the team was happy with my feedback. So it was a positive session. »

If it was already his seventh session on Friday morning, it won’t be the last of the season but if his final program is not yet completely finalized: « I will have more. We will also have a test session in Abu Dhabi. »

Monza is almost a home race for the Swiss team. Nevertheless, as since the beginning of the season, the team does not expect to arrive in a strong position: « We know that this circuit favors a certain engine, but unfortunately, we do not have that engine. We weren’t too bad yesterday. So all we have to do is do our best to try to take an additional step forward today in qualifying and have a good race tomorrow. »

According to the Dutch driver, the main issue with the C33 is its overall balance, but there have been improvements throughout the year: « We really struggled with the car’s balance, but we’ve made progress. Here in Monza, we’ve made more progress, and we have another package of improvements coming to Singapore. But I think at the beginning of the season, at certain times, we weren’t lucky. Sometimes we were very close to breaking into the top 10. With a bit of luck, we’ll make it this weekend. Otherwise, Singapore is always a crazy race. So maybe we can do it there. »

Singapore appears a bit like the last chance race for the Swiss team this season as it will then focus on the next season: « We will have improvements in Singapore and then, yes, we will have to move on to preparing for next year. » It can be recalled that last year, the team led by Monisha Kaltenborn chose to continue developing its car very late into the season in order to compensate for a missed first part of the season. This strategy worked at the time but resulted in delays in the development of the 2014 car.

We took the opportunity to talk about Giedo van der Garde joining Sauber while Caterham’s decision not to retain him came very late in the off-season: « To be honest, I had a lot of discussions with them (Editor’s note: Caterham) last year. I saw their project for this year and I didn’t have a very good impression of what it was going to be like. When you’re a race driver, you want to race and be at the top. I think last year was typical for a rookie driver: I struggled at the beginning. Around the middle of the season, I started to make progress and eventually became faster than my teammate. So when the opportunity with Sauber came up, I thought it was better to take a step back to move two steps forward. »

His integration into the team happened quickly, much to the satisfaction of both parties: « I think this is an excellent opportunity for me. I am happy with my work with the team, I think the team is happy with my work. So my goal is to race with them next year. »

However, this season is the first time in his career that he doesn’t have a full program in competition: « There comes a time when you have to make a choice in your life. I’m happy to have made this choice when I see what’s happening at Caterham. There are a lot of changes there, they sold the company and there are a lot of driver changes. So there’s not much to be happy about there. I’m very happy where I am and I’m taking this year as an investment for the future. »

When he arrived at Sauber, Giedo van der Garde stated that he wanted to become a regular driver here in 2015. His goal hasn’t changed, especially since Sauber is his only opportunity: « My management is talking with the team. These discussions are going well, but for now, nothing is finalized yet. So let’s hope we can make an announcement soon. »

The driver is all the more hopeful that there will be a positive outcome to these discussions as Sauber represents his only opportunity: « I will not go through another year like this. I want to be racing in F1 next year, with Sauber. There is only one option: Sauber is my plan A and there is no plan B. »

We will see what position he occupies next year as rumors circulate in the paddock that Adrian Sutil’s financial backers are late with payments…

From our special correspondent in Monza