So what was up with Sauber?

[BootsOntheSide]

The drivers looked like the worst element of the team this weekend. Massa was exciting to watch but unbelievably ragged. It's amazing that he only went off 3 or 4 times, and none of them damaged the car or cost him a huge amount of time. Fisichella's qualifying lap was terrible, and he took ages to get past Heidfeld.

Climb's point about the wind tunnel is hugely important - maybe they can make aerodynamic changes as the season goes on (perhaps going for a walrus-nose).

As for the revs, I noticed that Massa actually set the fastest time into the speed trap, which suggests that Ferrari may have ran the Sauber engines at higher revs, to get a guage on its potential reliability, knowing that failures in those cars would cost them far less than in Michael's or Rubens' car.

[twig]

It's just a pity that Heidfeld lost the drive. I recently thought Fisi would be reasonably competitive, but whatever the reason, he just wasn't anything amazing in the race, and Heidfeld showed maturity and a fantastic battle for his position, with a car which honestly looks like it was a handful even before the corner.

[Peter Mallett]

As somebody pointed out. It is early days but I agree. Of the two Heidfeld was the most impressive.

[Gt_R]

Give them some time. I'm also surprised at Fisi's apparent lack of pace in quals and race, but it's only the first race.

Let's not be too quick to rub them off..

Hopefully, Sauber could exploit the potential of the car real FAST. It's a golden opportunity for them to run a WORKS engine which is now better than the Hondas/Cosworths of Sauber's immediate rivals and even better than the engines run by teams supposedly more superior than Sauber (Mclaren/Toyota).

Sauber MUST use this chance to prove they are good enough. A pity that they could fully utilise their new wind-tunnel yet, but with a good drivers line-up, great engines and car, there's really little excuse for running at the mid-field.

[Inigo Montoya]

Originally posted by bumpsteer
Fisi will never get a drive with a top team. His technical feedback is non-existant. When Heidfeld tested the Jordan for the first time he told the engineers more about the car in one day than Fisi did all year. The top teams know about this which is why they chose to ignore him.

Really, great, another forum member with "inside information"

[mark_l]

Massa is still driving like he is looking for the scence of his accident.