Kick Sauber, formerly Stake F1, overcomes its naming ban in Australia with a strong showing, thanks to new updates and strategic focus.
Having rebranded to Kick Sauber for the weekend, the Stake F1 team, usually known under a name banned in Australia due to online casino laws, had a promising start despite finishing last in FP1.
“Each session, we find more grip and need to adapt to the traction, especially in the fast corners. But we have a good pace and hope to make a significant step forward,” stated Guanyu Zhou, who ended FP2 in 11th place.
“We had to sacrifice a bit in FP1 for FP2, and this year, it seems a bit harder to set a really fast lap compared to last year. But we’re fine-tuning and moving in the right direction.”
Kick Sauber introduced a new front wing, which Zhou praised: “The updates are small, but they’re to improve grip and consistency. It’s working, we need to extract more, but having new parts is better.”
Valtteri Bottas, slightly behind his teammate, also shared a positive outlook on the first day in his adoptive country: “I feel we’ve made progress. These are only practices, but focusing on ourselves and our setups, it seems we can do better.”
Bottas was also satisfied with the new front wing: “We need to analyze the data tonight, but I believe we’ve made gains. We’ll see its full potential tomorrow, but there’s improvement.”
Bottas aims for at least Q2 and doesn’t rule out a top 10 qualifying: “At minimum, Q2, we’ll try for Q3. It’s very tight today, but we’ll do our best.”
Kick Sauber Shines in Australia New Name Bright Start. Kick Sauber Shines in Australia New Name Bright Start
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