Nasr: Beating Manor "not that critical" for Sauber

Nasr and Sauber teammate Marcus Ericsson are yet to score points in 2016, and the team thus narrowly trails Manor, which has one point courtesy of Pascal Wehrlein.

The recent takeover of Sauber by Longbow Finance has allowed the team to finally run updates for its 2016 car, with a major upgrade package planned for the Belgian GP.

Nasr, however, concedes that the team is now largely looking forward to 2017.

"Although we are giving this a shot to bring an update package in Spa, there is a lot already focused on the '17 car, which is sensible considering where we are," the Brazilian told Motorsport.com.

"But I still feel, you know, we still have plenty of races to try and score a point, and if we make the car work, perfect."

Asked how critical it was for Sauber to at least overhaul Manor by the end of the 2016 campaign, Nasr said: "I don't think it's that critical. But I'm not giving up, the team is not giving up, we do want to score points. We'll do what we can."

Nasr also suggested that the two races that immediately follow the summer break - the Belgian GP and the Italian GP - could give Sauber its best shot at breaking into the top 10.

"We've got Spa, Monza... if the package is working, it'll bring us in a much more profitable situation, to take advantage, it [scoring points] could be anywhere.

"But, for a place that we don't need as much downforce, maybe Monza."

Interview by Jamie Klein