Even though the Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton had a terrible finish at the Spanish Grand Prix, another team in the F1 paddock was celebrating.
After Sunday’s race, a dejected Hamilton went into the media pen, lamenting his “dreadful” performance and seems at a lost for words on his sixth-place finish.
Nico Hulkenberg’s Sauber passed the seven-time world champion in the final moments of the race, but rather than focussing on how this might affect Hamilton, it’s equally important to acknowledge the team’s fifth-place result.
As Hulkenberg crossed the finish line in fifth, the Sauber garage erupted into applause, and team principal Jonathan Wheatley was equally jubilant speaking to Motorsport.com after the race.
The Sauber boss grinned as he detailed Hulkenberg’s overtake on Hamilton, clearly a big moment for the team that has had little to smile about in the past 18 months.
“It was a bit of a pinch yourself moment because that was on pace,” he said.
Sauber’s progress at the Spanish Grand Prix
Sauber have since usurped Alpine and Aston Martin in the constructors’ standings, with Hulkenberg claiming their second points-paying finish of the year.
Wheatley further revealed how much the Spanish GP weekend meant to Sauber, particularly after a difficult couple of years in F1, and hailed the team’s hard work.
The Hinwil-based outfit finished last in the standings in 2024 with just four points to their name, a tally they surpassed at the first race of the season in Australia, and are well past it nine rounds into the 2025 season.
“There’s so much hard work going on, so much passion at the factory and I think it just feels like this huge relief, because we know what we’ve been capable of,” Wheatley added.
The only full-time driver without a point in 2025 is Gabriel Bortoleto, whose 12th-place finish in Spain was the highlights of his brief Formula One career to date. “I was just pleased that the upgrade did what we expected it to do, The feedback from the drivers was consistent, and we had a racing car under us today. It’s the first time that I’ve felt that since I’ve been here, and it’s a great feeling.”
