Sauber suffered a disappointing start to its 2010 season, as both Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi were forced to retire from the Bahrain Grand Prix with hydraulic issues.
Their retirements capped off a poor weekend for the Hinwil-based squad, who had been expected to challenge towards the front of the grid.
Subsequently the team will now look towards the next round in Australia to kick-start their campaign.
Pedro de la Rosa (DNF): “I actually had a good start, but then lost positions when I had to go off the track to avoid colliding with other cars. On the grass I lost acceleration and some cars were able to pass, so when I arrived at turn four I had lost several positions. Then I felt we had a car that was good enough to fight for points, and there still was a chance to achieve this when I was called into the pits on lap 29 because of an hydraulic problem.”
Kamui Kobayashi (DNF): “Unfortunately it was a short race for me because on lap 12 I lost the power steering and from then on I wasn’t able to shift anymore due to a hydraulic problem. I had quite a good start when I made up four positions, but then I flat-spotted a tyre and, in hindsight, I also believe it would have been better to start on the softer compound. Pedro was faster on them.”
Peter Sauber, Team Principal: “I obviously had different hopes for how I would return to Formula 1 as a team principal, particularly after our promising winter testing. But even before the race our grid positions were disappointing. The race itself was okay from a performance point of view, with both drivers fighting for positions before they both stopped with a hydraulic problem. We have to analyse and to solve this problem very quickly.”
Willy Rampf, Technical Director: “The race pace was okay. Pedro drove an intelligent race and managed his tyres really well. Kamui, who was on the harder compound, was forced to stop before his first scheduled pit stop, therefore there is not much to say. Neither car finished the race due to a hydraulic problem which we have to analyse.”
