Sauber’s new Ferrari-powered C30

This is new Sauber C30 powered by Ferrari. The Swiss outfit hopes the new 2011 racer will bring it a step forward in pace with improved reliability, needed to become a more regular points scorer.

The new design features a now standard high nose and a slender rear end compared to last year’s challenger.

Technical director James Key said: “Our aim in the development of the Sauber C30-Ferrari has been to build on the strengths of the C29 and to eliminate its weak points.

“In addition, it is also important for us to go into winter testing with a car we understand, and we have worked hard on ensuring the characteristics of the car are heading in a direction we believe in. There will be much to learn about the new Pirelli tyres and in this respect we want to ensure there are no surprises with the way the car is handling.”

Key said that one of the primary targets for the outfit was to have a car that would be predictable from the start – because there remains so much uncertainty about how the new Pirelli tyres will fare.

“In order to take a step forward in 2011, we were already systematically tackling the C29’s weaknesses over the last season – and we’ve made progress. The insights we gleaned were taken into account when the concept for the new C30 was being drawn up.

“Since some of the changes decreed by the regulations – particularly regarding the tyres – can only be analysed out on track, it was important for us to build, firstly, a fundamentally predictable car and, secondly, one that would provide sufficient flexibility to respond to ongoing findings at the track and during further development stages.”

The new C30 features a fully integrated blown diffuser, and the team has been able to sculpt the sidepods more aggressively through fitting its radiators more vertically.

Sauber has also opted to use a single mounting for its rear-wing, rather than the twin-mounting arrangement it used on the C29.

Team principal Peter Sauber said he hoped the C30 would help the team make progress in the areas where it was lacking last year.

“We want to finish in the points regularly and clearly improve our position in the FIA Formula 1 constructors’ world championship,” he said. “2010 marked the 41st year of our company history and one of the most difficult.

“Never before had we faced such reliability problems, but we managed to overcome them in the second half of the season. We implemented some well-considered structural changes. The appointment of James Key as Technical Director already bore fruit last season, and he is now in charge of development of the Sauber C30-Ferrari.

“At the same time, we have managed to secure our business foundation for the 2011 season. In these economically straitened times that is something we can be proud of too.”

Sauber has confirmed that the KERS units it will use in 2011 will be provided by Ferrari.

As for the drivers, Sergio Pérez will be making his Formula One debut this season. The GP2 runner-up will partner alongside Kamui Kobayashi.

4 thoughts to “Sauber’s new Ferrari-powered C30”

  1. Sauber’s young driver pairing Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez say their focus in 2011 will be staying consistent and avoiding mistakes.

    Having signed GP2 graduate Perez to join Kobayashi – who only has 21 grands prix to his name – Sauber goes into the new season with one of the least experienced driver line-ups on the grid.

    But Kobayashi feels he has improved a great deal during 2010 and can now deliver his best form more consistently.

    “My rookie season is now behind me,” he said as Sauber unveiled its new car at Valencia this morning. “I learned a lot, gained a lot of self-confidence, and my target for 2011 is not to make any mistakes.”

    Kobayashi was 12th in the championship last year, earning praise for charging drives in Valencia and at Suzuka, and taking a season-best of sixth place in Britain.

    Perez said his plan was for his rookie campaign was to learn steadily and judge his progress against Kobayashi’s pace.

    “I’m aware how challenging Formula 1 is from both a driver’s point of view and technically,” said the Mexican. “I’ve got a lot to learn, and in Kamui I have an excellent yardstick.

    “My personal goal is to make steady progress. Consistency is important, not only to me but to the team as a whole. The support I’m getting back in my home country is huge, and I don’t want to disappoint anyone.”

    Source: Autosport.com

  2. Japanese racer Kamui Kobayashi is ready to lead the Sauber outfit this season. Autosport.com has the story.

    Kamui Kobayashi is confident he is ready to lead the Sauber team forward in 2011 even though he is only just starting his second full year in Formula 1.

    The Japanese driver was paired with the experienced Pedro de la Rosa and Nick Heidfeld at Sauber last season, but is now the relative veteran in the team as he has been joined by GP2 runner-up Sergio Perez.

    Kobayashi acknowledged that he would have to approach 2011 differently as Sauber would now be relying on him more.

    “My rookie season was a very challenging, very exciting period,” he said at the launch of Sauber’s new C30 at Valencia today

    “Now it’s still exciting but it’s a different role. It’s more the experienced driver in the team. I am thinking how I can bring a good level to the team.

    “I have to be ready to lead the team. That’s why Peter Sauber and the team chose me for this year. This is definitely my challenge and let’s say I am ready to be the leader for the team.”

    Kobayashi built his F1 reputation with a string of spectacular overtaking moves during his rookie campaign, and said he had found passing perfectly straightforward without the aid of the new-for-2011 rear wing system.

    “In my first race I had a couple of overtakings,” he recalled. “For me that was normal things, it was nothing special. It was just my race.

    “Of course it’s difficult to overtake but in that period as a rookie that’s my confidence how I can overtake, and I am still using this confidence. This helped a lot last year.”

    He admitted he was not totally convinced of the wisdom of the adjustable wing device.

    “For the driver it’s difficult with the system,” said Kobayashi. “If it works it’s very nice but if something happens it can be very dangerous.”

  3. Sauber’s technical director James Key believes the team’s push-rod suspension design will be beneficial for the Swiss squad.

    The Hinwil-based team has followed Ferrari’s route, moving away from Red Bull Racing-led route of a pull-rod suspension despite the team’s success during the 2010 season.

    Sauber will be using Ferrari’s engine and gearbox, as well as KERS and hydraulics this year.

    Key reckons said the push-rod design used by his team has a lot of important advantages.

    “The gearbox obviously dictates the in-board suspension points,” said Key during the launch of the C30.

    “It’s got these forward swept push-rod design, which is kind of a nice compromise because it means you’ve got access to all the bits and pieces on top of the box to set the car up, and it frees up the volume at the back of the car for the diffuser, which is one of the compromises for the gearbox design.

    “So we’ve obviously taken the points that we get from the gearbox and we’ve designed our own solutions on top of the gearbox, so it’s our suspension design but in line with Ferrari’s.”

    He added: “Like I say, geometry is kind of dictated by the design of the box, but then all the elements, and the way which they work on top of the box are all Sauber parts. The good news is that we started talking to Ferrari early about what you do with the 2011 gearbox because the diffusers have really changed that.

    “And our opinions and directions were surprisingly close, so once Ferrari designed the box we discussed it with them and it was actually pretty compatible with what we wanted to do ourselves.”

    He believes the design will be especially beneficial to cope with the unknown demands of the new Pirelli tyres.

    “I think it helps,” he said. “There is going to come a point when they get a direction on this, and then it will be less of an issue, but it seems to work pretty well.

    “It makes everything accessible, which is important for the tyres. And to be honest I think that the way is set up, you have all the volume at the front of the gearbox. It’s really a small box, it’s a very neat design from Ferrari.”

    Key also claimed the design meant compromises from an aerodynamic point of view.

    “No, not at all. It looks okay, we are fairly happy with it. Before we knew which direction Ferrari were heading into, we sort of expected what the pushrod would do in the wind-tunnel. And it was okay and there wasn’t any big for going from pull-rod to pushrod.”

    Source: Autosport.com

  4. Despite the limited livery design on the C30, Sauber insist there is sponsorship backing. Autosport.com has the details.

    Sauber says it is in a much more stable position starting 2011 than it was a year ago – but denied that it has signed new driver Sergio Perez purely because of the sponsorship money he can bring.

    Having begun 2010 with a largely plain car, Sauber was able to unveil an encouraging number of sponsor logos at its 2011 launch at Valencia today, with many of the new companies from Perez’s Mexican homeland. The GP2 runner-up’s career has long been supported by telecommunications firm Telmex.

    Sauber’s managing director Monisha Kaltenborn confirmed that the situation was far better than it had been immediately after BMW’s exit in late-2010, and that Telmex’s arrival had made a ‘significant’ difference.

    “We have become far more stabilised than we were a year ago, Peter [Sauber] had just taken over the team and start downsizing the company a lot, went through the process and completed a lot of the process and that makes the team more stable as we enter the new season,” she said.

    “We managed to secure a deal with Telmex which is a very significant partner with the team.

    “I think a team can never have too many sponsors but it is not all thanks to a driver, it is mainly the strong partner we have with Telmex and they have been supporting us as well, supporting the team in Mexico. This is a beginning and with the strong partners we are getting here we will be able to get further partners, no matter where [they are from].”

    Sauber’s technical director James Key was adamant that Perez’s strong performances in GP2 had been as great a factor in the team’s decision as his financial support.

    “We took Sergio because he was the right person for the job,” said Key. “There are links to Mexico but equally he is in the car because we believe he can do the job, particular after what he did in GP2.”

    Perez added that he would understand if people did refer to him as a ‘pay driver’, but that he was very comfortable that he belonged in F1.

    “I don’t really care because I know why I am in Formula 1,” he said. “It’s normal they call it like this because I have a lot of support from my country – but it’s very normal that if you do some good seasons like I did in GP2 and in my career, like I did, you should get that chance.

    “I am proud of myself and proud that there is interest in me from my country and they are helping me. That’s why we have good sponsors in the team with me.

    “I had to sacrifice a lot, nobody gave me anything for free. My family does not have money, I wouldn’t have been able to race even in Formula BMW without help. But I had to work a lot, I had to move from Mexico when I was only 15, completely alone, to change my culture, everything, to fight for my dream to be a Formula 1 driver.

    “I passed through some very difficult years – not only on the racing aspect but even in my life aspect. It was very difficult, but I’m very proud that I am here and now I have to work and do more sacrifices to be here. I have reached one of my goals and I hope I can keep reaching them.”

    Despite Perez’s team-mate Kamui Kobayashi making a great impression during 2010, Sauber has been unable to turn the interest in Kobayashi into Japanese sponsorship opportunities – but the team boss felt this was a symptom of the current economic situation.

    “That is the reality. It is very difficult,” said Sauber. “The situation we have is difficult to explain but it is not only with Japanese sponsors. Generally it is a difficult situation to get new sponsors. Like [for] all other teams…”

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