Team principal Jonathan Wheatley has shared his insights into the major upgrades Sauber introduced in Barcelona, future C45 updates, and what their aspirations are for the remainder of the 2025 F1 season.
The C45, on average, has been the slowest car in the 2025 F1 field. However, the Hinwil-based squad’s hard work on the upgrade package bore fruit immediately in Spain and brought home their best result since 2022.
Capitalising on the Safety Car restart on fresh soft tyres, Nico Hülkenberg made an impressive overtake on Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and crossed the line in fifth place in Barcelona.
Meanwhile, unable to benefit from the late Safety Car, Gabriel Bortoleto finished outside the points. Nevertheless, the young rookie found the C45 more drivable and left Spain with his best qualifying and finishing positions to date.
Wheatley relieved after upgrades pay off
In terms of multiple teams struggling to introduce efficient upgrades and what it means for Sauber to deliver in that regard, Jonathan Wheatley commended the team for their zeal and hard work in a print media session after the Spanish GP.
Stating that fortune hasn’t favoured them lately, the Brit added that it was a huge relief to finally maximise their potential and finish in the top ten for the first time since Melbourne.
“As I said, there’s so much hard work going on, so much passion at the factory, you know, and I spent as much time as I can talking to as many people as possible there.
“And I think it just feels like this huge relief, I suppose, because we know what we’ve been capable of.
“We haven’t had much luck, honestly, you know, a few things here and there, the Safety Car here and there, and this wouldn’t be the first point since Melbourne.
“So look, the energy in the team is great. This only adds to it.”
Car performing well at the Barcelona circuit is a positive sign
Despite the very tight battle in the midfield, teams are preparing to pause development of their current cars to focus on 2026, when new technical regulations come into effect.
Asked if this scenario could provide them with more opportunities to score points in the remaining rounds, the team boss admitted that Sauber are hopeful about extracting that extra tenth in qualifying.
Moreover, highlighting the versatility of corners the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya boasts, Jonathan Wheatley remarked that the C45 performing well on this track bodes well for Sauber’s prospects in several upcoming races this season.
“I think I’ve been saying for a little while now, the fight we’re in, a tenth of a second makes a massive difference.
“And absolutely we were capable of getting both cars into Q2. Absolutely, you know, and I think Nico’s [Hülkenberg] fast lap performance shows you how frustrating it was that he didn’t deliver that.
“If we look at Barcelona for as long as I’ve been coming here since 1991, it’s been a true test of a car’s performance and generally a car that performs here well, performs well at a lot more circuits.
“So yeah, looking forward to it.”
No decision yet regarding the timing and scale of second upgrade
With regard to the second development package that’s in the pipeline and what target Sauber are setting for themselves if both C45 upgrades prove to be effective, Jonathan Wheatley stated that they are focused on assessing the extent of how effective the current one is.
Furthermore, the 58-year-old elaborated that the decision they face pertains to the timing of the next upgrade and how best they can utilise the wind tunnel resources to take the necessary step forward.
“I think we need to understand the magnitude now because, as I said earlier, the tools are working. Correlation’s good. You know, that’s the reason we started the cars on two different packages, to make sure that we really understood where the benefits were.
“I think we go away. You know, you have to make a decision as to when to introduce an upgrade and how big an upgrade, how long you keep it in the tools for, how long it’s in the tunnel for.
“We’ll make the right decision, I’m sure.”
Any performance gain will make a difference
Asked if Sauber have been able to quantify the upgrade in terms of lap time gain, Jonathan Wheatley quipped, “The right amount.” Nonetheless, he clarified that they need to analyse the data on the long runs to properly gauge how much progress they have made.
Emphasising how close the field has been in recent years, the Brit commented that even a little performance gain would allow Sauber to take the fight to the other midfield teams ahead of them.
“Look, I think we need to really go away and look at the long runs to get a true feeling for it.
“But, you know, I said we needed a tenth at least to get into the fight. That’s what we’re talking about. I mean, in the old days you put an upgrade on and you were hoping for half a second, six tenths of a second, but everything is so close.
“How many times have we missed out on Q2 by a hundredth of a second? So any performance you put on the car is going to make a difference in terms of it.
“And honestly, the best strategy is to have the fastest car.”
Wheatley confident team is going in the right direction
In terms of new people, new processes, and new systems coming together and how encouraging it has been for the Hinwil-based outfit to experience the efficacy of the upgrades, the 58-year-old reiterated how satisfied he is with the efforts of the team.
Acknowledging their inability to gain an in-depth understanding of the C45 sooner, Jonathan Wheatley also proclaimed that Sauber have taken a massive step forward with the update and that they are moving in the right direction.
“I’m actually so pleased that everyone has put so much hard work into this.
“We’re trying to understand the C45. We maybe didn’t put the performance on the car at the stage that we thought we could early on.
“So this is just a massive step and a massive pat on the back for everyone at the factory. All that analysis, all that hard work that’s going, all the creativity, it’s all going in the right direction.”
