Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto endured a miserable race at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix, as Sauber emerged as the slowest Formula 1 team at Suzuka last weekend.
Sauber have even fallen to ninth in the F1 constructors’ standings after failing to take a point in the Japanese GP. Only Alpine are below the Hinwil, Switzerland crew as the only team still to take a point. Racing Bulls jumped Sauber with Isack Hadjar’s four points for P8 at Suzuka.
Hulkenberg led Sauber’s hopes in the Japanese GP but could only finish the race in P16 after also starting from the same position. Bortoleto, meanwhile, regressed from his P17 starting position to finish the Japanese GP in P19 – only Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll was behind.
Their plights saw Sauber leave Suzuka as the worst-performing team at the Japanese GP as Haas, Alpine and Aston Martin only had one car fare worse than Hulkenberg and Bortoleto in qualifying. Esteban Ocon would overtake Bortoleto, while Jack Doohan rose from P19 to P15.
Nico Hulkenberg thinks the Japanese GP exposed Sauber’s high-speed corner balance problems
It was a result the Hinwil crew were expecting, to a degree, as Sauber doubt they can repeat Hulkenberg’s P7 in the Australian GP on pure merit with their car in its current state. The 37-year-old scored all six of Sauber’s points so far this season in Melbourne’s mixed conditions.
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| Position | Constructors’ Standings | Points |
| 1 |
McLaren Racing |
111 |
| 2 |
Mercedes-AMG Petronas |
75 |
| 3 |
Red Bull Racing |
61 |
| 4 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
35 |
| 5 |
Williams F1 Team |
19 |
| 6 |
Haas F1 Team |
15 |
| 7 |
Aston Martin F1 Team |
10 |
| 8 |
Racing Bulls |
7 |
| 9 |
Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber |
6 |
| 10 |
Alpine F1 Team |
0 |
Hulkenberg believes Sauber’s want of performance at the Japanese GP proved the balance problems with their car, too. The Swiss squad, who will become Audi’s factory outfit in 2026, already felt the C45 will struggle for balance in high-speed corners and Suzuka exposed it.
“I think the main problem is that we simply need more harmony and balance in the car on these fast, flowing tracks. But we already knew that,” Hulkenberg said, via Motorsport-Total.
Suzuka punishes cars that struggle for balance in high-speed corners with the iconic Esses, Dunlop, Spoon and 130R demanding a planted platform. Sauber could not produce a set-up to soften their high-speed balance problems enough to overcome them in the Japanese GP.
Nico Hulkenberg is cautious to trust Sauber’s progress at the Bahrain Grand Prix
Hulkenberg now hopes Sauber can enjoy some improvements at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend given the Sakhir track’s different chrematistics to Suzuka. But he is also somewhat cautious to trust what progress they can make given the differences between the two tracks.
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Hulkenberg continued: “Sakhr is completely different – little braking demand, little traction demand [and] slow corners. So, let’s see if that helps us there. It will be the first really hot race of the year, but Bahrain is actually an outlier and therefore not the best reference.”
