{"id":34456,"date":"2025-05-30T03:36:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T07:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=34456"},"modified":"2025-05-30T03:36:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T07:36:00","slug":"why-spain-could-be-saubers-last-chance-to-recover-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/30\/why-spain-could-be-saubers-last-chance-to-recover-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Spain could be Sauber&#8217;s last chance to recover in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/26\/why-sauber-face-sizable-short-and-long-term-obstacles\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Sauber have failed to increase the points tally<\/a> since the Australian GP, where Nico Hulkenberg capitalised on the chaotic conditions to finish in 7th.<\/p>\n<p>The Swiss team&#8217;s failure to score more points has left them at the bottom of the standings, albeit just one point behind Alpine in 9th.<\/p>\n<p>Still, their relative proximity to the Enstone team in the Championship does not show the C45&#8217;s limitations this year.<\/p>\n<p>In qualifying, the Hinwil-based team are fast enough to challenge for Q2.<\/p>\n<p>On race day, however, their limitations become far clearer and ultimately prevent them from finishing in the top 10.<\/p>\n<p>Because of this, their Spanish GP updates could be integral to rescuing their campaign.<\/p>\n<h2>Sauber begin 2025 where the left off in 2024<\/h2>\n<p>At the end of last season, a series of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/01\/06\/why-saubers-las-vegas-updates-give-them-hope-for-2025\/\" target=\"_self\">updates at the Las Vegas GP<\/a> made Sauber competitive again.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"HGjQ9cfFQvlq0Nj9f5em0w\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2217683025\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'HGjQ9cfFQvlq0Nj9f5em0w',sig:'thSMxZXB63DXlN-vmmgg1m22-kzsowA2Lff2DeseQmE=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2217683025',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/24\/zhou-guanyu-optimistic-of-returning-to-f1-in-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">Zhou Guanyu<\/a> fought for points in Vegas, his first race with the new components, before crossing the line in 8th at Qatar.<\/p>\n<p>Valtteri Bottas would later make Q3 in the final race of the season, as Sauber managed to make themselves a factor in the midfield once more.<\/p>\n<p>So far this year, the Swiss team&#8217;s competitiveness is comparable to what it was then.<\/p>\n<p>They are no longer in the same position they were twelve months ago &#8211; where even in qualifying they struggled to bother the midfield.<\/p>\n<p>Still, they are undoubtedly lacking a few tenths to fight for points on merit &#8211; or even be in a position to capitalise on the misfortune of others.<\/p>\n<p>So far this year, much of the discourse surrounding the Hinwil team has centred on their 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/26\/mattia-binotto-audi-anticipate-engine-deficit-in-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">Audi<\/a> transition.<\/p>\n<p>However, their transformation for the new regulations does not automatically make this year a write-off.<\/p>\n<h4>Upgrades could change course<\/h4>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/27\/verstappen-red-bull-reveals-hopes-for-spain-technical-directive\/\" target=\"_self\">upcoming technical directive<\/a> has been mentioned on numerous occasions in F1 media outlets, not least on LWOS.<\/p>\n<p>Fundamentally, this weekend&#8217;s changes to flexi-wings could impact the pecking order.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"pBOyVTudRjpr_Kaz-QeV4g\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2217681712\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'pBOyVTudRjpr_Kaz-QeV4g',sig:'UU-mdsp92cc6lk83Qqrefobg5Ar7WxAvDmbtBYhPJdQ=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2217681712',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In such a competitive field, it only takes a two-tenth swing to push a team from making Q3 to the jaws of Q1 elimination.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, upgrades &#8211; such as the package Sauber are bringing &#8211; could determine how effectively teams adjust to this new directive.<\/p>\n<p>Should the Swiss team make a forward step, they could find themselves benefiting from the stagnation or regression of other midfield teams.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking ahead of this weekend&#8217;s action, Sauber team principal Jonathan Wheatley discussed his expectations:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Barcelona marks a return to competitive racing at a circuit where aero performance is paramount.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;So we should see the impact of the new front wing regulations.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Monaco was always going to be dominated by the lack of overtaking opportunities which allowed some teams to entirely mitigate the normal pit stop losses.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Barcelona should give us a clear picture of how our new upgrade package will affect our competitiveness.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;The team has been working hard back home in Hinwil and our focus is on getting familiar with the new parts.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;With a view to putting ourselves in a more consistently competitive position heading into the next phase of the season.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Main photo: Peter Fox\/LAT Images (via Sauber media gallery)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sauber have failed to increase the points tally since the Australian GP, where Nico Hulkenberg capitalised on the chaotic conditions to finish in 7th. The Swiss team&#8217;s failure to score more points has left them at the bottom of the standings, albeit just one point behind Alpine in 9th. Still, their relative proximity to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":34457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[2541,2452,345,510],"class_list":["post-34456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-c45","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-sauber","tag-spanish-grand-prix"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34456"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34496,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34456\/revisions\/34496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}