Valtteri Bottas has openly critiqued Sauber, amid escalating speculation about his absence from the team's strategy for its future partnership with Audi.
Owned entirely by Audi now, the Swiss team acknowledged ahead of the Melbourne Grand Prix that technical issues plaguing their pitstops this season cannot be resolved in time for the upcoming Suzuka race.
Mitigation measures were implemented in Australia, yet Sauber's dire pitstop issues persisted, culminating in a penalty of 5000 euros due to a loose wheel nut in the pitlane.
"We have redesigned all the components from the hub, nuts, everything," affirms team spokesman Alessandro Alunni Bravi, "but of course this takes time for the production."
But the situation is even worse than that for Sauber, now officially titled 'Kick' and 'Stake' depending on gambling advertising restrictions in countries, as their new neon green car clearly lags in speed.
"There is no need to report on the mood in the team," noted esteemed F1 correspondent Roger Benoit, who tracks Sauber's journey for Blick, a Swiss publication. "The sad and stony faces say it all."
Among the disheartened in Australia was the usually upbeat Finnish driver Bottas, a past Mercedes victor, who now finds it hard even to outperform his teammate from China, Guanyu Zhou.
His dissatisfaction became more apparent post-race in Melbourne, where he harshly evaluated Sauber's performance.
"We could have scored points today," he mentioned to Viaplay. "But if we can't fix the pitstops, it doesn't matter how the car is or how well you drive. And apparently it still hasn't been fixed."
At 34, Bottas emphasized that resolving the pitstop debacle is more crucial than the car's performance.
"The pitstops are the most important thing that needs to be fixed," he stated.
Bottas has frequently voiced that his main priority regarding his future is his inclusion in the shift towards Audi.
After the Melbourne race, the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti observed: "No matter how you look at the situation through blue and white glasses, Bottas' stock is not currently high in the driver market."
