Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas.
Sauber/Kick/Stake F1 duo Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou will both start the Canadian Grand Prix from the pit lane after the rear wing specifications changed on their cars.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who caused a collision at the Monaco Grand Prix, will be effectively joining them at the back of the grid due to a five-place grid penalty.
Sauber pair Bottas and Zhou head for Canadian Grand Prix pit lane
The punishment for changing the rear wing is not expensive for either Bottas or Zhou in theory. Both drivers were unable to advance from Q1 in an exciting qualifying session, where George Russell and Max Verstappen both set identical times for pole position. However, Russell secured pole position as he set the time first.
Due to starting positions in P17 and P19 respectively, Bottas and Zhou were not significantly affected by being relegated to the pit lane, as it did not greatly impact their chances on the opening lap.
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After initially qualifying a lowly P17, Bottas was still relatively confident of having a positive race at a track which should provide much more of a racing spectacle than the previous Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
Bottas expressed that we were extremely close to reaching Q2, only a few hundredths of a second away from qualifying – a fact that leaves us with the sensation that we could have accomplished something more.
“The final lap of pushing was exceptionally clean, in fact, it was the cleanest I have experienced throughout the weekend thus far. The balance was also decent, and it didn’t seem possible to extract any more out of it.”
Initially, the track conditions were slippery, but they progressively got better. Regrettably, we still face some challenges in terms of our speed on individual laps – that sums it up mostly.
As we approach Sunday, I believe we can adopt a more positive outlook. This track provides greater chances for unexpected outcomes compared to Monaco. Additionally, the competition remains incredibly tight, promising an exhilarating race.
Furthermore, the weather’s impact cannot be disregarded in this situation. I am hoping for a combination of different weather conditions or perhaps some rainfall, as it would greatly aid our advancement. We anticipate several chances and will exert maximum effort to capitalize on them.
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