TEAM REPRESENTATIVES: Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Bruno FAMIN (Alpine), Frédéric VASSEUR (Ferrari), Alessandro ALUNNI-BRAVI (Kick Sauber)
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TEAM REPRESENTATIVES: Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Bruno FAMIN (Alpine), Frédéric VASSEUR (Ferrari), Alessandro ALUNNI-BRAVI (Kick Sauber)
Q: Alessandro, let's start with you. Now, the team is going through a rough patch at the moment. What continue to be the biggest issues with the C44?
Alessandro ALUNNI-BRAVI: I think we can say that the performances are not there, so there is nothing to hide. At the beginning of the year we had quite good performance compared to our main competitors, but we didn't translate this into results, for all the reliability issues that have been, I would say, quite evident. And now, the other teams made a bigger step with the latest updates, especially Racing Bulls, also Alpine, and we need to recover the gap. We fixed the reliability issues, especially the pit stop, But on the single laps in qualifying, we are not there where we should be if we want to fight for the points.
Q: Now, one of the topics that came up in the drivers press conference yesterday is how much the current campaign is being affected by the preparations for Audi's entry in 2026. What's your take on that?
AAB: I think it's a mistake to mix both things. I don't think that the preparation for the Audi works team is affecting the current two seasons, and it must not. I think that we have weaknesses that we are trying to address. Andreas Seidl is working from last January on improving the team in this transformation process. But the transformation process starts from the improvement on the current structure and in finding the right people to reinforce our technical teams in every area. I don't think that there are two separate tasks to be done, one for the works team and one for the current team. There are not two separate teams. There is one team. that needs to be the foundation for the works team.
Q: So Valtteri saying yesterday we're taking one step back to take two steps forward is not wholly accurate?
AAB: I don't want to say it's not accurate, but of course we are not where we should be, also in terms of recruitment, in terms of the investment, and this is why Audi has decided in March to go for a full takeover of the Sauber Group in order to push for the investment that are necessary to make the step towards the works team. So I think that we are in a situation where we know exactly where is the light at the end of the tunnel, but we are still in the tunnel.
Q: Alright. Thank you for that. I'm sure there'll be more questions for you later. Bruno, can we come to you next, please? You come to Barcelona on the back of a double points finish in Canada. Just how confident are you of maintaining that run of form here?
Bruno FAMIN: I think it's very different here. We are back to a normal track, if I may say. In Canada, we have been good in the execution. Very specific conditions with the weather. We have been good in seizing the opportunity, drivers, both – Esteban and Pierre have been very good. Strategy, mechanics for the pit stops, and we have been able to score three points, which is our best result so far. But here, it's very different. The track is a reference track, let's say. And I don't expect yet to be back within the points, to be frank. We will push hard for that, for sure. But we need to work. We are working hard to recover performance. But it's going to be, I think, a bit difficult here.
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