• German Grand Prix

Sauber delighted with points haul

ESPN Staff
July 22, 2012 « Penalty demotes Vettel to fifth | Mercedes drivers disappointed with pace »
Kamui Kobayashi was promoted to fourth after Sebastian Vettel's late penalty © Sutton Images
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Peter Sauber described the team's result in the German Grand Prix as "outstanding" after both its cars finished in the top six.

Kamui Kobayashi finished fourth having started 12th and Sergio Perez was sixth from 17th as both drivers displayed impressive pace to secure a 20-point haul. Kobayashi was promoted one place after the race when Sebastian Vettel was penalised for an illegal overtake on Jenson Button, and speaking before that decision Sauber was already delighted with the result.

"We started from P12 and P17 and finished fifth and sixth (before Vettel's penalty)," Sauber said. "I think it's fair to say this performance was outstanding, and it was rewarded by 18 championship points. Congratulations to the drivers who both did an excellent job, and thank you to the whole team."

Despite the impressive result, Kobayashi admitted he was conscious that the result could have been even better given an improved qualifying performance.

"I am very happy for the team that we have managed to get a good result again," Kobayashi said. "We have been unlucky in the two most recent races, and also had a bad qualifying yesterday. The performance of our car, especially in the dry, is really strong. If we only had qualified better we could have achieved even more today. At the beginning of the race it was a bit difficult on the medium tyres, but our strategy was good. Considering where we came from, 18 points is an excellent result."

Perez added that he didn't even have a smooth race despite making up 11 places, with a potential puncture affecting his strategy.

"I am so pleased for all of us that we have recovered after we had such a bad qualifying," Perez said. "We have shown a strong pace in the race. However, my strategy was a little bit compromised because I had to do my first pit stop a bit earlier than planned. I felt something strange on the left hand side of the car - perhaps it was a puncture - but I don't' really know yet what it was. This obviously meant we had to extend the later stint and I ended up with quite old tyres. The team did a great job today and this will give us a good boost for next week's race in Budapest."

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