F1 2010 season preview: Sauber
The exciting Kobayashi starts his first full season at Sauber
This team endured a torrid season as BMW in 2009. Until a late update to their car brought them within touching distance of the leaders in the final races.
Now back under the control of Peter Sauber, will they revert to their midfield role of the pre-BMW days, or get back on the upward curve which put Robert Kubica in contention for the title two years ago?
Car design
The Sauber C29 owes much to its predecessor, the F1.09. It also draws heavily on several popular design trends: high nose, shark fin and cutaway engine air intake.
After successive years of progress the team went down a blind alley with its 2009 development, wasting a lot of time on KERS. But by the end of the season the F1.09 had been licked into shape and Robert Kubica drove it to second place at Interlagos.
BMW had already canned its F1 project by then but the early performance of the C29 suggests that might have been a poor decision. In testing the car appeared to have good baseline speed, no major reliability concerns and is kind to its tyres.
The team has excellent resources at its Hinwil base but the almost total lack of sponsorship on the C29 does make you wonder if they can afford to use them to the full in the year ahead. They may not quite be the Brawn of 2009, but look for Sauber towards the front of the midfield where they stand a chance of grabbing the points that get the sponsors.
Driver line-up
With Kubica off to Renault and Heidfeld not being retained, Sauber have a brand new driver pairing in 2010.
Pedro de la Rosa hasn’t raced since 2006 but his development abilities are first-rate – McLaren are disappointed to have lost him. With track testing very limited and more work being done on simulators, de la Rosa’s experience will be a boon for the team.
In Kamui Kobayashi Peter Sauber has made another of his characteristic gambles on a promising young talent. Kobayashi’s GP2 performances didn’t mark him out as a star of the future (although he did win the GP2 Asia title) but the ease with which he took to F1 with Toyota last year hinted at his potential.
His drives in Interlagos and Yas Island mixed desperation and inspiration but Sauber has proved a good environment for slightly wild young drivers to mature into race winners – like Felipe Massa.
Strengths
The car looks strong and the team have an excellent technical base. Although technical director Willy Rampf is moving aside he’s handing over to James Key, who did great things with Force India’s aerodynamics last year.
Weaknesses
An unproven driver line-up with one race-rusty driver and one rookie. How much development work can they get done on their budget?
Poll: championship position
In the past three seasons they’ve finished second, third and sixth. Where will the team finish as Sauber in 2010?
Where will Sauber finish in the 2010 Constructors' Championship?
- 1st (1%)
- 2nd (1%)
- 3rd (3%)
- 4th (7%)
- 5th (27%)
- 6th (32%)
- 7th (17%)
- 8th (8%)
- 9th (2%)
- 10th (1%)
- 11th (1%)
- 12th (0%)
- 13th (0%)
Total Voters: 858
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2010 F1 season
Images (C) BMW Sauber F1 Team
the Edge said on 10th March 2010, 12:10
there is only 12 teams in F1 this year right?
only i’m just a little confused why there is a position 13 on the voting form…and even more confused why people keep using it
i mean…i know vergin arn’t great but even they will struggle to finish 13th out of 12
Prisoner Monkeys said on 10th March 2010, 12:16
I really like the C29. If they got rid of the sharkfin and gave it a proper livery, I think it would be the best-looking car on the grid. It’s got the same aggression that that McLaren MP4-25 has, but it doesn’t feel the need to wrap itself in elegance. It’s got a real industrial vibe about it, and I like it.
Kav said on 10th March 2010, 12:38
I think Sauber will do great this year. BMW weren’t a bad team. They may have screwed up last year, but they were great in the other years so I’m confident they designed a good car this year. It is a shame Heidfeld and Kubica aren’t still onboard, they would take the team to the top 4.
GeeMac said on 10th March 2010, 12:43
The C29 looks like a fantastic car. I think the revelation about it being very kind to its tyres will give the big 4 something to think about, because the car did seem to have good pace through testing. They should be able to grab a podium or two in the right circumstances.
Andre said on 10th March 2010, 12:48
Sauber biggest problems ITS DRIVERS, always been a fan of Sauber, I quite enjoyed their driver line up last year, however this year, quite disappointing, you cant expect to do well if your drivers are below par.
Patrickl said on 10th March 2010, 13:10
I’ve never been a fan of Sauber. He always seems to go for the most boring strategy available.
Not convinced about their line-up either. I feel Pedro de la rosa is a has been who never was and I wonder how Kobayashi will fare. He was horrible at Interlagos, but pretty impressive at Abu Dhabi (although he had a great car to drive too)
CovertGiblets said on 10th March 2010, 13:21
I’ll be interested to see if Bridgestone’s comments regarding the C29′s relative kindness to its tyres translates into problems with overheating when circuit temperatures begin to rise? Assuming its as kind as is thought, the C29 may enjoy some success with the odd very good result. However I feel they will finish behind Force India and Williams in 7th
CovertGiblets said on 10th March 2010, 13:23
Cant wait for the first time a certain German driver meets our new Japanese friend. That should make for some excellent television!
maciek said on 10th March 2010, 13:57
The midfield is such a toss-up. I’d like the team to do well, just because it’s cool that Peter Sauber stayed ‘in the game’ – and I have a soft spot for Kobayash’s bravado and seemingly genuinely nice and chill personality (which is wholly separate from how he might do in the long run). The Ferrari engine can only be a plus, but based on absolutely nothing but gut feeling, I think that their testing pace was a bit of a mirage. Whereas Renault did almost nothing but long runs, from memory, I think Sauber did mostly short runs. The best of luck to them, but I voted 8th, behind Renault.
Mike said on 10th March 2010, 14:37
Hey Keith, another great post,
Are you planning on doing some sort of summary for the pole results at a later time?
George said on 10th March 2010, 16:09
I like Kobayashi’s Will to fight with the so-called big teams to get at least 8Th position and he also mentioned getting podiums with a bit of luck. I love his confidence
he deserves the great car he’s got
George said on 10th March 2010, 16:12
Is their Official name Sauber Motorsport now???
Dennis said on 10th March 2010, 16:14
Well I think they will be a midfield team. I regard Williams a little higher because of the experience of Barrichello over De la Rosa and Hulkenberg’s talent over Kobayashi. But Kobayashi is a promising driver, I’m curious to this one. I think they will be 6th.
wasiF1 said on 10th March 2010, 17:24
Peter Sauber is the man who found out talent like Raikkonen & Massa, I won’t be surprise the Kamui is his next weapon.
Toncho said on 10th March 2010, 22:57
I’d say they will end 6th after the big four and Force India. I am glad PDLR got a seat after all, he deserved it and I have big expectations about him (reading the post seems like I am the only one)