Sauber boss says Australia was a "good feeling" despite picking up no points

Fred Vasseur is pleased with his team's performance in Australia despite scoring a blank, with Charles Leclerc finishing 13th, although Marcus Ericsson retired on lap five with a hydraulic issue.

Sauber are expected to be the weakest team once again this season after they finished bottom of the Constructors’ championship in 2017 with only five points.

Team principal Vasseur said: “The balance of the whole race weekend is positive, especially considering the good progress we have made since Friday.

“Regarding the race we have mixed feelings because Marcus was doing an impressive job after a good start.

“We will now analyse all of the data. Congratulations to Charles for his first race in Formula One.

“It was important for him to finish and he did a great job with tyre management and fuel saving.

“All in all, it’s a good feeling for the team and we are very motivated as we look forward to Bahrain.”