Nasr: Sauber can get back in the points

Editor

Felipe Nasr sees no reason why Sauber can't challenge for points again this year after making major improvements during the winter break.

The 2014 campaign was one to forget for the Hinwil squad as the team failed to score a single point during for the first time in its F1 history. Not only did they have issues with their chassis, but the Ferrari engines were also not up to scratch.

However, if pre-season is anything to go by then Sauber could be in for a good season as Nasr and team-mate Marcus Ericsson have done well during testing.

Asked if points were still the main focus for Sauber, Nasr is quoted as saying by ESPNF1: "Completely. We are completely focused on those points and all want to get back to [scoring] points. We all want to get back to points and I think we need to go back to the areas we saw over the winter and from the car last year that we need to improve.

"I would say it's not only one area but many areas that have had to improve. We know we are lacking downforce [last year], this is quite clear. But from the chassis side I think there is some improvements, this is quite clear, and of course the Ferrari engine is a step ahead from where it was last year."

Sauber set the pace on day three of the Jerez test while they were second on the other three days. Although they had one or two issues on the final two days in Barcelona last week, the C34 still produced some solid performances.

Nasr, though, knows it's difficult to predict the pecking order.

"It's difficult to say because you need to have other teams as a reference as well," he said. "It's difficult to judge where our main rivals are at the moment because we don't know.

"For us, we've been working a lot on our performance side and I can say to you there is a step forward from last year and a step forward from Jerez to here. The whole car got a bit more consistent and we improved our long runs as well, how we managed the tyres, a little bit better. It's a steady process but it's all going in the right direction."