Bottas identifies area where Kick Sauber ‘made a step’ in Austin but admits team ‘need more’

Valtteri Bottas believes that Kick Sauber have made a step forward in their race pace after some promising signs in the United States Grand Prix, but the Finn admits that more is needed as the team’s search for their first points of the season continues.

After lining up in P16 on the grid, Bottas looked to be in the heart of the action towards the rear of the midfield. This also saw him have a moment with George Russell – who had started from the pit lane – which resulted in the Mercedes driver receiving a five-second penalty for forcing his opponent off the track.

READ MORE: Leclerc leads dominant Ferrari one-two in Austin as Norris loses third to Verstappen after penalty

But after embarking on a long second stint, Bottas ultimately crossed the line down in 17th place. Despite this, the 35-year-old took the positives from the car’s performance at the Circuit of The Americas.

“In the beginning of the race it was good to be present and fight and, yeah, we could keep up with the competitors,” he explained. “But then we stopped quite early because we always thought it’s going to be two stops, but in the end we converted to a one-stop because we saw a greater opportunity with that strategy.

“But, yeah, honestly the second stint just became too long for us in the end, the tyres didn’t hold on. We tried, but… it seems like we’ve made a step in the race pace, but we still need more.”

Asked if he had seen enough signs in Austin to feel confident that the team have made a step forward – ahead of the next race on the calendar in Mexico – Bottas added: “Yeah, [in] parts of the race we could really race, which hasn’t been the case for quite some time, so I think we made a step in the race pace.

READ MORE: Bottas ‘can’t do anything’ to speed up Sauber driver decision as he plays waiting game over F1 future

“Mexico is a very different track, which I like very much as well. Let’s see what we can do there.”

Zhou Guanyu, meanwhile, suffered a spin early on following the Safety Car restart and went on to end the Grand Prix in 19th, the last driver on track following Hamilton's early retirement.

Speaking after the race, Zhou commented: “Firstly I apologised [to the team] for the spin – obviously it was a mistake on my side. But, yeah, I tried to attack Liam [Lawson], he had the hard compound [tyres on] after the Safety Car restart.

“Then [at] Turn 1 I went in a little bit too hot, and the moment I hit the bump I think on the wrong angle, that was it – I couldn’t really do much more in the car.

READ MORE: Binotto admits turning Audi into F1 winners will be ‘like climbing Everest’ as he sets out timeline for success

“And then after that actually I was thinking maybe I had the pace to come back, but unfortunately the pace just went away – I don’t know why – [in] the last two stints. But the first stint it didn’t feel too bad.”

The result means that Sauber remain the only team yet to score a point in 2024, with five race weekends remaining for them to break their duck.