Valtteri Bottas: Kick Sauber’s “Challenging” Year

Despite a difficult 2024 season, Valtteri Bottas remains optimistic about Kick Sauber’s future.

Kick Sauber have endured a disappointing year, languishing at the bottom of the constructors’ standings without a single point. Both Bottas and Zhou Guanyu have struggled with reliability, limited upgrades, and a lack of pace.

“It’s been a challenging year for us,” Bottas admitted. “We haven’t scored a single point, which wasn’t our target going into the season. We expected an upwards trajectory from last year, but it hasn’t happened.”

Bottas attributed the team’s woes to setup difficulties and insufficient pace. “We’ve made some improvements, but they’ve been small. Unlike other teams, we haven’t made big jumps.”

To close the gap to rivals Williams and Alpine, Kick Sauber must improve their car’s performance. “We definitely have a clear direction for the second half of the season,” Bottas said. “We need to make the car faster. A lot of that comes from the wind tunnel and the design office.”

Despite the setbacks, Bottas is determined to perform well. “My job is to extract everything I can from the package every single weekend. That’s my job.”

Bottas believes Kick Sauber can improve in the season’s second half. “We have a clear direction, and we know what we need to do. We just need to make the car faster.”