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Sauber: Easier to go from last to eighth than from eighth to sixth

Sauber: "Easier to go from last to eighth than from eighth to sixth"

10-12-2018 17:13
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Nicolás Quarles van Ufford

After having experienced a very progressive season, Sauber team principal Fred Vasseur that warned that it's much more difficult to grow from the place where they are now.

The Swiss-Italian team, which fused with Alfa Romeo at the end of 2017, were hopelessly in last place in the constructors' championship for a few years in a row. This season, however, the tide has changed, as rookie Charles Leclerc led the team to an impressive eighth position in the standings, leaving both Toro Rosso and Williams behind them.

Having made that progress, though, Vasseur now warns that it'll be much harder for the team to make as big of a leap as they did last year.

"Going from tenth to eighth is much easier than going from eighth to sixth, or from sixth to fourth," he was quoted by FormulaPassion.

"I know that every step will be more difficult to climb.

"We will have two strong drivers. Antonio [Giovinazzi] showed in the Friday tests that can provide good feedback. Kimi [Raikkonen] will bring his knowledge of top teams and a lot of experience. It is a good combination. Kimi loves driving and he likes the atmosphere in our team. I'm sure he'll feel comfortable in our little team. The choice was between him and [Marcus] Ericsson." 

With the combination of young talent and experience that Giovinazzi and Raikkonen bring respectively, Sauber could be a team to watch next season. Could they make another leap forwards?