Back in Europe the eighth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship will take place in Austria from the 19th to 21st June. With it only being around 700 kms from the Sauber F1 Team’s headquarter in Hinwil to the race track in Spielberg, the Austrian Grand Prix can be considered as one of its home races.
Directly after the Austrian Grand Prix, the second in-season test for the Sauber F1 Team will take place on the 23rd and 24th June in Spielberg. On the first day, test and reserve driver Raffaele Marciello will be driving, while Felipe Nasr will be in the cockpit during the second test day.
Marcus Ericsson
"I am delighted to be getting back to Austria and especially Spielberg. The atmosphere during the race weekend last year was amazing - it was a great experience. There were a lot of spectators in the grandstands and on the campsites. I like the track a lot, as it is a fast circuit which I am going to enjoy. Overtaking is rather difficult, but there are places where it is possible. I am looking forward to the race weekend."
Felipe Nasr
"This season it will be my first time driving a Formula One car in Spielberg. I am looking forward to racing there. It is quite a fast circuit, with many long straights combined with some high-speed corners. The last two corners before the start and finish line are my favorites, as they are very quick and you have to drive them very precisely. The long straights could be a benefit for us, but downforce is also required in the high-speed corners. I assume it will be a challenging weekend fighting against our main competitors, but I am confident we will extract the maximum out of our package."
Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering
"The Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg can be considered, in terms of the set-up and aero configuration of the car, almost as a continuation of the previous race. The balance between the number of corners and lengths of the straights is similar to the Montreal track, yet their nature is substantially different with flowing bends in place of chicanes, and changes of elevation. We also expect that brakes will be a key factor there. For this race weekend the soft and super soft compounds have been allocated by Pirelli. After an extensive assessment of last week’s achievements, we will direct all our efforts again towards competing at a high level."