He continued: “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.
“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.”
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Wheatley admitted that “we need to go to a few more circuits” before making definitive conclusions, but hopes the all-round nature of the Barcelona venue shows Sauber now have a package to challenge for points more often.
“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,” he commented. “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].”
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