Sauber laments double retirement

Team boss Peter Sauber was left disappointed after his team endured a poor start to the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix

Both Pedro de la Rosa and team-mate Kamui Kobayashi retired with hydraulic problems, completing a difficult weekend for the Hinwil-based squad following a promising winter testing.

Sauber admitted he was hoping for better on his return to the role of team boss.

"I obviously had different hopes for how I would return to Formula 1 as a team principal, particularly after our promising winter testing," said Sauber. "But even before the race our grid positions were disappointing.

"The race itself was okay from a performance point of view, with both drivers fighting for positions before they both stopped with a hydraulic problem. We have to analyse and to solve this problem very quickly."

De la Rosa, who had qualified in 14th position, said that he felt his car was strong enough for a points finish.

"I actually had a good start, but then lost positions when I had to go off the track to avoid colliding with other cars. On the grass I lost acceleration and some cars were able to pass, so when I arrived at turn four I had lost several positions.

"Then I felt we had a car that was good enough to fight for points, and there still was a chance to achieve this when I was called into the pits on lap 29 because of an hydraulic problem."