Sauber plays down lack of pace

Team principal says too early to talk about performance comparisons.

Sauber is not concerned about its pace in the opening pre-season test at Jerez and will bring significant upgrades to its new car when testing resumes in Bahrain later this month, according to ESPN.

The new C33’s best lap was nearly seven seconds off the fastest time of the week, as both Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez struggled for grip.

With Sauber’s focus set on racking up mileage in Jerez, team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said it was too early to talk about performance comparisons.

“It’s very difficult to judge the lap times, because every team ran a different programme,” she said.

“This didn’t come as a surprise to us. We know what to expect. It was our top priority to be ready from the first day of testing, so to be able to collect as much data as possible. I am sure there will be movement right up to the first race in Melbourne in that regard.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2014.

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