Friday: Sauber still needs to work, Gutierrez generally satisfied
Three drivers worked with Sauber this Friday: Giedo van der Garde is satisfied with his performance, Adrian Sutil complained about understeer, and Esteban Gutierrez believes he has a decent car.
Adrian Sutil (no. 99) – 16th (FP2)
Present only in FP2, the German is relatively satisfied with his Friday: « At the beginning, it’s always difficult to find a good rhythm. Generally, the second free practice session was quite good, even though I am not yet completely satisfied with the car’s balance. We need to work to have less understeer. On the other hand, we completed our planned program without any issues. »
Giedo van Der Garde (No. 21) – 15th (FP1)
Present this Friday morning, the Dutchman, who is in talks with the team’s leaders for a full-time seat in 2015, was initially struggling with little aerodynamic support but then found more satisfactory settings: « Towards the end of FP1, I switched to a rear wing with more downforce and made some changes to the front wing. The times were better, and I improved a lot. I think the car is more stable with less understeer in this configuration. So I was more satisfied with the car’s balance at the end of the session. »
Esteban Gutierrez (n°21) – 11th and 14th
Rather satisfied at the start of FP1, the Mexican was less happy with the changes made afterwards for an overall fairly positive outcome: « With the modifications we made at the end of the first free practice session, I didn’t have a good feeling. In the afternoon, we reverted to the changes we made in FP1 and overall, the session was okay. I think we can still improve the car a little bit. That’s what we will be looking for tomorrow, and we will also focus on the development of grip. »