Formula 1: Sauber has a luxury problem
FORMULA 1 Ferrari not only won the first Grand Prix of the year, but was also delighted with the good GP debut of its reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi at Sauber. He pulled the chestnuts out of the fire for the Swiss team with 12th place. Now Sauber has a luxury problem. Ferrari has had to make up for lost time since winning the Singapore GP in [...]
Ferrari had to wait almost a year and a half for another GP success since winning the Singapore GP in September 2015. With a terrific drive and clever tire tactics, Sebastien Vettel redeemed the Scuderia from this pressure to succeed that Ferrari President Sergio Marchionne had imposed on the entire team.
The shake of the head and the grimace of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff at the command post of the Silver Arrows illustrated that in Formula 1, only victories really count. In this context, the two podium finishes by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas should be more than a small consolation for the world champion team.
Super job by reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi
However, the Ferrari team brass, including Marchionne, were also unaware that Antonio Giovinazzi had done a super job for the customer team from Switzerland. Called up as Ferrari's official third driver just in case for Australia and all other Grands Prix, the 23-year-old Italian stepped in at short notice on Saturday to replace Pascal Wehrlein.
"At first I thought the call from Sauber was a joke," he remarked in an interview. But it wasn't: The German, ailing after an accident at the Race of Champions in January, fell behind in training and, after free practice in Melbourne, didn't feel fit enough for a full race distance with centrifugal forces of up to 8g.
For Sauber, it paid off to borrow Giovinazzi from Ferrari during the first Barcelona tests and let him take the wheel of the new C36. However, as with Ferrari, only championship points count for the Hinwil-based team. Giovinazzi's rather unexpected 12th place did not earn him any points, but Renault (11th place with Nico Hülkenberg), McLaren-Honda (13th place for Stoffel Vandoorne, retirement of Alonso who was ahead of Giovinazzi) and HaasF1 (with Romain Grosjean from Geneva) also came away empty-handed in Melbourne.
As a result, Sauber still occupies eighth intermediate place in the Constructors' Championship after the season opener due to its positions outside the points. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be the end of the story, as Haas, McLaren and Renault have more potential in terms of their lineups and the other direct opponents in the battle for a midfield position - Force India and Toro Rosso - have already scored well.
Back in Hinwil, Sauber (and Ferrari) are now probably analyzing and discussing how the driver lineup should sit out China and Bahrain. In Australia, voices were still being raised that Giovinazzi would also be in the Sauber cockpit for the next two Grands Prix. In any case, he received praise from all sides, and no one spoke of Wehrlein anymore.
Who will represent their interests best: Sauber's technical partner Ferrari with their protégé Giovinazzi or Mercedes with Wehrlein, who is contractually tied to Sauber? Or will they simply take their chances again in China? Both drivers will be there anyway.
