Saab Admits Fixing Pit Stop Woes Will Take ‘Some Time’

Sauber sporting director Xevi Pujolar has acknowledged that fixing the team’s ongoing tire-changing issues will take “some time,” but says the outfit will strive to avoid a repeat of its problems at the Japanese Grand Prix.

For the third consecutive race of the season, Sauber encountered issues during pit stops, directly impacting its results. After the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Pujolar indicated that the team would seek short-term remedies for Melbourne, as the problems were hardware-related.

However, in Sunday’s race, Valtteri Bottas’ left-front wheel wasn’t changed promptly, causing him to lose positions – he had been ahead of two Haas cars and in contention for points. This time, a nut flew off the wheel gun and rolled onto the track, posing a risk to other cars or being run over, resulting in a €5,000 fine from the FIA for Sauber.

Addressing the exacerbated pit stop issues, despite the nut not being a problem in the previous two incidents, Pujolar dismissed any connection to the measures taken for Melbourne. He told Motorsport.com, “This shouldn’t have happened, but we didn’t make any modifications that could have caused this. Based on our free practice and pit stop practice, we were confident, and actually, it was going well today.”

Pujolar admitted that the recurring issue was costly for Sauber and its drivers, as despite underwhelming qualifying performances in the first three races, the C44 showed improved race pace compared to last year, putting them in contention for midfield battles.

“We had the cross-threading issue in the first race with the nuts (referring to a malfunction where the thread did not engage properly, creating an abnormal double thread, leading to interlocking),” he said to the media after the race. “We didn’t see this in free practice or winter testing, but it becomes crucial every time we race. We took some mitigating actions this weekend, minor adjustments, but they weren’t enough, and we had one issue in a stop.”

Pujolar emphasized that the problem doesn’t lie with the pit crew itself, but the complexity of the entire system, not easily solved by swapping out a single component, especially given the new front suspension system on the 2024 car, which prevents reverting to last year’s hardware.

“There is no issue with the pit crew, they did nothing wrong; it’s about the hardware. We need to ensure we have the time to find the solution and parts, and we’ll try to address it before Suzuka,” he said.

“It’s certainly disappointing for everyone, the drivers and the whole team, especially when the car is performing well in the race. Imagine how difficult it is for the mechanics. We need to stay calm, find the positives from the race weekend. The teams are so close, and five of us are fighting for sixth in the constructors’ championship.”

In Melbourne, Guanyu Zhou also experienced a delay during his second stop, although this was not due to a pit stop error; rather, a transmission issue in the race caused the car to go into anti-stall mode, stopping the engine.