Kick Sauber Team Principal Jonathan Wheatley believes Nico Hülkenberg’s fifth-place finish in the 2025 F1 Spanish GP can act as a “springboard” for greater success in the remainder of the season.
Hülkenberg charged into points contention from the opening lap after a tough Qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He put Sauber’s upgraded C45 package to good use, maintaining strong race pace throughout the afternoon.
Hülkenberg executes on strategy and performance
A late-race Safety Car reshuffled the order and gave Hülkenberg the perfect opportunity to pit for fresh soft tyres. The German called the move his “golden ticket” and used the grip advantage to overhaul Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari at the restart. He later gained another position after Max Verstappen received a post-race penalty, promoting him to fifth.
Wheatley, only a few months into his tenure as team boss, praised the team’s breakthrough: “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.”
“We overtook two Ferraris” – a pinch-yourself moment
When asked about Hülkenberg’s late-race move on Hamilton, Wheatley did not hold back in his excitement.
“We overtook two Ferraris today! Both drivers,” he said. “Honestly, it was a bit of a pinch yourself moment, because that was on pace.”
The result propelled Sauber to eighth in the Constructors’ Championship, leapfrogging Aston Martin and Alpine. The Swiss team have now scored four times as many points as they managed during the entire 2024 season.
Team morale gets a boost
Wheatley underlined the impact the 2025 F1 Spanish GP result has had on staff across the organisation.
“It’s huge, you know?” he said. “There’s so much hard work that goes on and so much passion in this team.
“I’m hoping that we can use this as one of the springboards that I talked about, on this roadmap we’ve got towards where we want to be. I’m hoping we can build on the momentum from this.”
Understanding the C45 unlocks progress
Wheatley acknowledged that the team struggled earlier in the season to extract performance from the C45 but now sees clear progress.
“We’re trying to understand the C45,” he said. “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.”
“It’s 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.”
“Barcelona always tells the truth” – cautious optimism for the races ahead
Despite the success in Spain, Wheatley urged patience and consistency across multiple circuits before making firm conclusions.
“We need to go to a few more circuits,” he said. “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. Generally, a car that performs here well performs well at a lot more circuits, so I’m looking forward to it [the rest of the season].”
The midfield battle intensifies
With the Canadian GP up next, Sauber aim to keep their upward trajectory, while Alpine must find gains quickly to close the gap to their immediate rivals. As the fight for the lower positions in the Constructors’ Championship intensifies, every point now carries serious weight.
