Sauber C30 hits the track in Valencia

2011 F1 cars

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Kamui Kobayashi has put the first laps on the Sauber C30 in Valencia.

The Japanese driver did a series of installation laps and filming laps in the car which was launched this morning.

2011 F1 cars


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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    69 comments on “Sauber C30 hits the track in Valencia”

    1. One of the picture appears like Kamui pumping his fists after a victory. Great Character !!

      1. Huh?? Do you drink ? lol

      2. That’s actually the camera over the cockpit

      3. Haha! It does! Good catch.

        1. uh-huh !!

          @drowsy – Yes I do drink ..lol

    2. Sneaky the way some teams are using a filming day to do the initial shake down. (more time to get on with the proper testing on day one) Surprised we haven’t seen more do it.

      1. I guess some teams save it until later, when they might need it more.

      2. they restricted the thing after Ferrari used it as an excuse to test the blown diffuser last year.

    3. Sure but there’s not a lot of “testing” that you can do on the film days. You have to use special tyres and I’m sure there are some other restrictions, but as a chance to see if your new car will make it round a few laps without anything falling off – perfect.

      1. That’s why it’s often referred to as a “shakedown.”

    4. is that camera on the car?

      1. Yep, as used to make video footage for the team

    5. nice to see it’s not white any more

      1. It actually has more white than the C29, the rear wing was black last year.

        1. I still really like it, so distinctive.

          I think maybe teams are over-doing the liveries nowadays.

    6. That front wing seems to be as flexible as Red Bull’s were last year.

      1. We are probably going to see those all over the grid this year. Red Bull proved this was legal, after all they meet the tests

    7. 4 pillars support the airbox; seems similar with Toro Rosso STR6 photo that was released during alguersuari seat fitting

      1. I think the pillars are probably there as the engine sits further back than the car of last year, as I assume Sauber are running KERS this year, hence the elongated airbox-roll over hoop.

    8. just below the camera, on the nose cone, there are two weird fins!

      1. Check out those “fins” that are on the f150. They seem even more agressive.

    9. That’s so much better looking than last year’s car.

    10. How is the rear wing moved…does it just lay down or ??

      1. The front edge rises, it has to be that way so it can fail safe. In other if it collapses it drops to the high profile position, presenting it’s maximum surface and thus is safe.

        1. This seems to make sense…what controls it?? Mechanical or electrical ?? Then how is it operated?? Lever or button ??

    11. I guess the sauber team has never heard of GoPro cameras…lol

      Wow do those front wing endplates have quite a bit of detail!

    12. Strange, they seem to be using different tyres to the Ferrari shakedown?

      Wouldn’t that be against the rules?

      As far as I know, testing is only allowed on designated tyres

      Or are there simple many different types of designated tyres for promotional use?

      1. Ferrari used wets because it was, guess, wet. Here it was dry so they used, guess, dry tyres.

    13. Hello everyone, here we go again! The thunder of the engines, the roar of the croud, really looking forward to this season. I must thank Keith and his superb website for rekindling my F1 passion, and everyone in the comment section for reminding me that F1 is a monster with many heads; a complex, fast and intriguing sport that thanks to websites like this everyone with the slightest interest has at his fingertips the opportunity to become a bonafide F1 fanatic!!

      1. Enjoy the roar of the engines while you can, come 2013 those engines may be sounding like earth movers.

        1. So true! And so sad.

          1. Have either of you actually heard the new engines?

    14. Nice placement for the new sponsor – Cuervo. ¡Viva el Sauber!

      New rule: shot of Cuervo per Sauber pass.

      1. Anatoly Nechaev
        31st January 2011, 16:48

        Don’t know about Cuervo, but if you’ll drink Flagman vodka each time Renault passes, i’m afraid you won’t even see the pit stops. 8)

      2. New rule: shot of Cuervo per Sauber pass.

        I have a bottle of 1800 ready to go… Bahrain is early morning for me though, so I’ll have to wait for Australia to try out your Kobayashi drinking game.

        1. Peter, you can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning…

          It’s not like Bahrain won’t be early either on the east coast. :D

    15. Like the Pirelli logo on the nosecone a lot more than Ferrari’s.

      1. But the way the green Lotus integrated the Pirelli logo with their stripes is so much better.

    16. Oh what cheats..Anything related to Ferrari is a cheat.They are testing the engines for Ferrari.Should be thrown out..

      Anyone?

      1. I get what you mean Mclaren or Red Bull do a filming day its fine but if a Ferrari or anything Ferrari related does it, their a cheat.

        1. ^ Autistic to sarcasm, obviously…

          1. Not sarcasm. Sarcasm is ok once a while. Every test Ferrari does is illegal. It’s getting annoying now.

            1. It’s true – I’m no Ferrari fan but the reaction, especially from some usual suspects around here, to anything Ferrari do is getting pretty old.

    17. I expect a lot from Kamui this season

      1. That’ll depend on the limits of the car… Whatever they are he’ll surpass them. I get what you mean though, he could certainly improve his qualifying pace and his consistency.

    18. The Green lotus is a much more better looking car that these three……. .like i said earlier this year the cars are going to look a little ugly …did not expect so ugly ……

      1. You should add ‘IMO-in your opinion’

    19. By the way Sauber’s technical director James Key thinks that the new Ferrari push rod dampers will make a real difference. I noticed in the 2010-2011 Ferrari comparison photos that they found a solution in implementing the push rod in a way that gains all of the advantages of the RBR inverted suspension (sleeker aerodynamic profile, better diffuser performance) and at the same time retains the tried and true characteristics of the push rod suspension. Considering the change in tyre manufacturer, removing the suspension variable will prove decisive I think. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89160

    20. I hope Kobayashi gets a podium this year.

    21. Good to see some brands on the car! Although the clean and crisp look of last years car was nice, it wasnt very good for the team’s finances.

      Gotta admire Peter Sauber. He’s poured so much into the team, as well as giving many young drivers their chance in the sport.

      I would love to see Sauber get a win this year – would involve a lot of luck (and rain!) I think, but I doubt I’m alone in thinking this.

      1. Sauber’s my second favourite team. Peter took so much effort in it, establishing a team, selecting promising drivers (Raikkonen, Massa, Heidfeld), and buying back his team once BMW withdrew. He deserves a lot!

    22. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaC1_hZ8T0Y Here is the video if you are interested

        1. Welcome you like it??

          1. Yes, but there aren’t any shots from the on board camera.
            BTW, how do they do those filming from the front? Is there a car with the camera in front?

            1. Yes I would Imagine thats why you see Kamui just cruising and not going to hard on the throttle did you see part 2????

    23. I can only hope that now that Telmex and Telcel are in F1, they try to upgrade their services and offer world-class, instead of the expensive third world c**p we get now.

    24. Jeez empty rear wings look daft, for goodness sake Peter paint a giant ‘Sauber’ tag on it or something, thing looks like Brawn painted it atm.

    25. Forward vision blind spots?

    26. The livery doesn’t look so bad in action – but only when you view it from an angle that doesn’t show the likes of the Claro decal. Like this one:

      https://www.racefans.net/2011/01/31/sauber-c30-hits-the-track-in-valencia/saub_vale_2011_jl-5/

    27. There’s a video of onboard shots from the shakedown on YouTube, and one thing that I noticed is that Sauber ARW works in a completely different way to Ferrari’s. The top of Ferrari’s rear wing drops down, but the front of the SAuber’s front wing lifts up.

      1. the front wing lifts up?

      2. All the movable upper rear wings have to work the same way, pivot at the back back and raise in the front.

        3.18 Driver adjustable bodywork :
        3.18.1 The incidence of the rearmost and uppermost closed section described in Article 3.10.2 may be varied whilst the car is in motion provided :
        – It comprises only one component that must be symmetrically arranged about the car centre line with a minimum width of 708mm.
        – With the exception of minimal parts solely associated with adjustment of the section, no parts of the section in contact with the external airstream may be located any more than 355mm from of the car
        centre line.
        – With the exception of any minimal parts solely associated with adjustment of the rearmost and uppermost section, two closed sections are used in the area described in Article 3.10.2.
        – Any such variation of incidence maintains compliance with all of the bodywork regulations.
        – When viewed from the side of the car at any longitudinal vertical cross section, the physical point of rotation of the rearmost and uppermost closed section must be fixed and located no more than 20mm below the upper extremity and no more than 20mm forward of the rear extremity of the area described in Article 3.10.2 at all times.

    28. the car looks quite good
      so dus the renault
      but i hate the lotus

    29. Any video of the shakedown?

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