Sauber aims to introduce upgrades at Austin

Despite its long-term aims, Kick Sauber will not abandon the development of its car, with team representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi targeting the Austin round for the introduction of its latest upgrade.

Kick Sauber that will become Audi’s works team in 2026 has endured a very difficult year so far this season. While pit stop struggles hindered their chances in the early races, the team has also lacked outright pace so far this season.

The Swiss outfit is the only team yet to score a point in 2024, with an eleventh-place finish having been their best result so far this year. Sauber’s team representative Alessando Alunni Bravi insists that the outfit’s main target is to find a right balance for its car.

“But we have, as you know, introduced a big package for us in Silverstone and Hungary that then was available to both drivers as of Zandvoort race. And now we need to optimise this package.

“We struggled to get out most of the performance, especially in Zandvoort. We made a step in Monza, but there is still a lot of work to be done to find the right balance. We will have other upgrades during the season.”

The Italian stated that the Hinwil-based outfit is developing a new upgrade package that should arrive at Austin. With the 2024 cars set to be carried over into next season, it will be vital to end the current championship on a high note as next year will see teams sacrifice most of their resources for developing their all-new 2026 cars.

“We are targeting Austin, but of course, for us, this year has been more marginal gains than a big step. So we continue to develop the car. This is also important, not just for this season, but also for 2025. It doesn’t mean that we are giving up this season, but we are working hard first to identify our weaknesses.

“And of course, nobody has a silver bullet in Formula 1. We know that we need to do steps and, you know, the upgrades that will be introduced later in the season should allow us to do another step. If this will be sufficient to catch up, our direct competitors will be just a track to assess this,” noted Bravi.