Canadian GP: Race notes - Sauber

10/06/2012

The Sauber F1 Team celebrates its second podium finish this season. Given the fact that Sergio Perez started 15th, today's third place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix was completely unexpected. The young Mexican was on a one stop strategy. He started on the soft tyre compound and changed after 41 of the 70 race laps to the super soft tyres. He made the most out of them and overtook one car after another. His team mate, Kamui Kobayashi, had started from a slightly better position after qualifying 11th but got stuck in traffic during the race. The team changed his strategy from what was originally planned to be two stops to one stop, which meant Kamui stayed on a set of soft tyres for 46 laps. Kamui finished ninth and contributed two points to today's great result. The Sauber F1 Team now has 58 points to its tally and improved to sixth in the FIA Formula One World Constructors' Championship.

Sergio Perez: "When you start 15th and there is no rain or chaos you don't really expect to finish on the podium. We were quite aggressive today. The strategy and the pit stop have been very good and I was able to overtake a few cars. I saw that for me the tyre degradation wasn't so bad and this allowed me to manage my pace quite well. We have a quick car but since Malaysia we have been unlucky for one reason or another, and then yesterday we had such a disappointing qualifying. Today's result is a great reward for all the guys who work hard. The last time I scored points I was also on the podium and think this is quite a nice way to do it. Also it is particularly sweet to have been at the podium ceremony here in Montreal because we are not too far from my home country and there are many Mexicans here. It is a great boost for the team and I am very pleased for everybody."

Kamui Kobayashi: "My car was okay today and the team deserves the good result. For me we had planned two stops, but it turned out that one stop was possible and even quicker. I started on super soft tyres and after my pit stop I did 46 laps on the set of soft tyres. I had a good race pace when the tyres were in good shape, but in the end it wasn't easy. However, to me the most difficult thing today was traffic and I think, under the circumstances, P9 was about the maximum possible from 11th on the grid."

Peter Sauber, Team Principal: "What an outstanding race! It's quite unbelievable that a driver starting from P15 is able to finish on the podium in a race without any special incidents. Today, Sergio delivered his masterpiece! Kamui was less lucky with his strategy, but he was also able to score points. Recently we haven't been able to exploit our full potential, but today we proved we are a great team. A big thanks to everybody who worked hard to make this possible."

Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Head of Track Engineering: "It's difficult to find the right words after this emotional finish! The race started with a bit of a question mark: How would the tyres last in the hot conditions? Mostly for this reason we split the strategy for our two cars. Honestly, I thought two stops would be the way to go. Kamui was planned to have a shorter first stint than he did, but then we realised the tyres were holding on well. Unfortunately he came back on the track behind Paul di Resta and lost some time there. He couldn't drive at his own pace, otherwise his result could have been better. With Sergio, who started on the harder compound, we went for a longer first stint without knowing if one stop would be enough. But then things turned out nicely, and we pitted him on lap 41. At the pit stop we managed to overtake Kimi Räikkönen, and then he was able to attack some cars in front of him who's tyres were degrading. Sergio did some good overtaking, but the key really was that he was able to manage the tyres very well. That's one of his skills. He drove an absolutely fantastic race which delivered the well deserved reward for the whole team."

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