Sauber fear they may struggle to fight for points in 2016 as they expect a big improvement from Toro Rosso and particularly McLaren, which uncharacteristically languished at the back of the grid.
Whilst the Swiss team comfortably secured eighth in the championship, it’s highly likely McLaren will climb the ranks with engine supplier Honda promising major performance improvements from its new power unit.
Speaking to GPUpdate, Sauber race engineer Erik Schuivens said finishing in the top ten is their ultimate goal, but admitted it will become increasingly difficult with those around them making gains.
“I hope we make a step forward, but the other teams will progress as well,” he said. “McLaren, for example, but also Toro Rosso.
“They already had a strong chassis [in 2015] and with a better power unit [now Ferrari], it will be difficult for us to beat them.
“We hope to make it into Q2 and now and then Q3, so we can score points without depending on other cars to retire. If we succeed in doing that, we have done a good job.”
Meanwhile Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn agreed that scoring points will be difficult, adding that both the Mercedes-powered Manor and newcomer Haas could present another challenge.
“We have Manor coming with a new tie-up. We have a new team [Haas] coming, which we’ve learnt has had extensive co-operation with another team [Ferrari].
“So, it is going to be very tough to score a point.”
