Valtteri Bottas has admitted that the Sauber Formula 1 team missed its targets for the previous season and has challenged it to rise to the “high expectations” he retains for 2024.
Sauber registered its best championship finish since 2012 upon F1’s return to ground effect aero in 2022, but it slumped three positions down to ninth place last term.
Bottas, who will enter his third season with the team, believes that Sauber should set its sights high heading into this campaign despite underachieving during last season.
“Going into [the] third season together with a team, the objectives need to be lofty,” Bottas said. “My own expectations are high, we definitely need to make a good step and see good progress from last year; a season in which, in all honesty, we didn’t meet the targets that we set for ourselves.
“We need to fix that now, we need to step up our game and do better.”
Bottas has hinted that the addition of former McLaren Technical Director James Key and further investment has been the driving force behind his heightened optimism for this year.
Asked where his confidence in Sauber’s prospects has come from, Bottas replied: “Seeing all the changes that have been happening in the team is what gives me this confidence.
“We have got quite a bit of new resources in different departments of the team, we have a whole new identity, the new car looks different – and not just in terms of livery.
“All this gives me confidence that we’re on a different path, hopefully the right path.”
The Finn, formerly a 10-time grand prix winner with Mercedes, proclaims that he has been satisfied with the progress Sauber has made with its latest creation over the winter.
“When you start a new season, everyone starts from zero, and it is completely impossible to predict where you are going to be: it’s the beauty of the sport, especially nowadays, with the fine margins currently separating the teams,” he noted.
“We know that everyone is pushing, everyone is developing, but I’m happy to see what we have been able to achieve in the last few months with the new car.
“I would say I’m definitely more confident going into this season than last season, based purely on what I’ve seen around me.”
Bottas has cautioned that Sauber won’t be able to receive an assessment of where it stands in the F1 pecking order until its car has ran on an array of different circuits.
“Testing is a great moment to learn all you can about the can about your package: you start to learn the ways its set-up works, but it’s only at the first race that you kind of get some kind of picture,” he acknowledged.
“In all honesty, however, with the experience I have in the sport, I know you normally need the first three or four races to see where you’re actually going to be, especially because the type of tracks we have in the first few rounds of the year are quite different from each other. You can’t really build a full picture too early.”
