Could this be Sauber's year?
Autosport Driver's Column
19th March 1998

My sixth place for Sauber at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne was a good result, especially since I finished right behind Jacques Villeneuve's Williams. But I can't help feeling a little bit disappointed. It would have been very nice to get up on the podium for the first race of the new season.

It was all going very well until Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella came in for his pitstop. At this point I was stuck behind Villeneuve, so maybe I should have come in for my stop earlier. When I did, we had a problem with the refuelling rig, so the timing of the stop would have made little difference.

In the end I lost out to Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Eddie Irvine. I couldn't put in any quick laps before my stop because of being held up by Villeneuve, and afterwards I had a brake problem that meant I had to take it easy. All this time added up, and Frentzen also had the advantage of a clear track to put in quick laps before coming in for his stop.

Although I felt we could have finished higher than sixth, Australia was still very positive for Sauber. My biggest concern was reliability after our problems in the Barcelona tests, so to get through the first race was a bit of an achievement.

The work the team's done over the winter has been very good and we've made a big step from the end of last year. Back then we were qualifying around 15th, and now we're back in the top 10, so the team has adapted to the new rules well. The only question mark at the moment is McLaren’s new braking system, which everyone - not just Sauber - has to catch up on. I believe the team had a version of it ready in December but it's been put on the shelf for the time being.

What surprised me the most in Australia was my new team mate Jean Alesi being two seconds off my pace in qualifying. I expected to qualify ahead of him, but it was a bigger gap than I'd hoped for.

All the same, Jean seems to be settling into the team okay. Barcelona was fine despite the problems, and he got just as much running as I did. He seemed to fit in well, he got on with his engineer and appeared to have plenty of support from the team. At the end of the day, he just didn’t perform in Australia, but we shall see how he progresses over the next few races.

The new regulations are designed to make overtaking easier, but it's hard to tell whether it's worked. The refuelling problem meant that I had only just enough fuel to get to the end of the race, so I had to slow. In front of me, Jacques also had a problem, but since he could see my pit board telling me to slow, he knew I was in trouble as well. We’ll have to see if overtaking becomes any easier - there are so many things to take into account.

The difference driving these new cars in race conditions compared to last year’s versions is not as great as I expected. The engineers have made the cars more efficient, and the time lost by the new tyres has been made up for in other areas. But the time difference between 1997 and 1998 might not be so close on all of the circuits. A slow, tight track like Monaco will show the difference, as should a long circuit like Spa Francorchamps.

The main problem lies not in comparing times from last year, but comparing them with those of McLaren at the moment. It was no shock that they were quick in Melbourne because they were strong in the pre-season Barcelona tests. But considering Goodyear have caught up with Bridgestone since last year's Australian race, McLaren's lead must be big if they could win like that with a smaller tyre advantage. I hope it won't be the case in South America, because last year's Bridgestone tyres were very strong with Olivier Panis's Prost, so McLaren could be even more dominant there.

But the prospects for Sauber should still be good. There's no reason we can't be as competitive in the Brazilian Grand Prix as we were in Australia. Last year's car didn't qualify well, but the team seems to have solved the problem of getting it higher up the grid. It should mean we can start in Interlagos from where we left off in Melbourne.

For the rest of the season, the main thing we must avoid is what we did last year. Then we had a competitive package at Brazil, but in mid season development ground to a halt. We have an even better car this year, so if we keep developing it throughout the year, there's no reason why we shouldn't be competitive. The team has learned from last season’s mistakes, so expect to see Sauber raise its game for an extra special year.

With thanks to Johnny, Red Bull Sauber-Petronas and Autosport
This page prepared 21st March 1998. All rights reserved