Sauber C33: First pictures

2014 F1 cars

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Sauber have revealed the C33, their new car for the 2014 season.

Chief designer Eric Gandelin said the team have focused on developing a car which will permit them “maximum flexibility” under Formula One’s new rules.

“The radical changes to the technical regulations for 2014 mean that it’s even harder than usual to make predictions for the new season,” said Gandelin.

“We know what kind of package we’ve put together here, and we are happy with what we achieved, but it is difficult to foresee what shape our rivals are in. The earliest opportunity to gain an impression of where the teams are in relation to one another will come during testing.”

Gandelin added the team have made reliability a “high priority” when designing the new car as they expect many teams to have problems at the beginning of the season. The team intend to concentrate on reliability in the first test at Jerez next week before introducing performance upgrades for the two Bahrain tests.

“The car will be fully functional, but without a number of performance parts, which will be introduced for the two tests in Bahrain,” said Gandelin.

“On the one hand this gives us time to maximise the development of these performance relevant parts, and on the other hand we can run the car during the first test and check all the systems, which we feel is crucial, considering all the technical changes.”

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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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98 comments on “Sauber C33: First pictures”

  1. i need more pictures, but so far it is the better looking car

    1. +1 My thoughts exactly.

    2. @snapshot018 my thoughts.

      I think, basically, from the side, they all look really really great

  2. Looks good.

    1. +1 it looks a lot better than what ferrari and mclaren have produced this year

  3. Possibly the best looking car so far. I love the shape point of the air box, and the softly curved rear wing

    1. That air box looks mighty!

      Anyway, is this it? Two pics and off we go? Missing live broadcasted launches this year… As it’s new-rules-time, let’s book this

    2. Takes me back to Jordan 2000/2001.

  4. I want to see how it looks from the front, because from this side angle it looks like Sauber have managed to create a good looking nose.

    1. I think it still has a finger/pen*s nose, that is they have chosen that angle. I think you can just see the nose slowly taper in, a bit more gracefully then the Mclaren though.

    2. It looks rather like a codpiece on the front, which somehow works better than a vacuum cleaner, a tuning fork or full-on nudity.

      1. until now i think the tunning fork is still the best looking. maybe the vacuum cleaner. this one i has as far as i can make out of the pic, a fingered nose. horrible!

        1. It’s hard to see from this one side-ish angle, but I’m thinking they’ve pulled off more of a raptors beak look rather than the p*nis nose. We’ll see.

    3. It looks like the nose tapers in towards the inside and the wing pylons follow the taper to create an air channel to get the airflow underneath the car. In fact, strangely, it looks a bit like a miniaturized version of the cockpit with the sidepods. The nose appears to have sidepods! I’d really like to see a frontal shot now!

  5. So flipping sexy. This car is going to win the WDC.

    1. soundscape (@)
      27th January 2014, 1:06

      If only. As much as I’d love to see RIC do well, I yearn to see a middle team rise to the top.

  6. Looks like the nose is similar to the Williams. At least it’s not the broken nose like the Ferrari.

  7. Another car that looks not nearly as bad as most of us expected.

    And what’s really refreshing is the way the 2014 designs are so broadly varied, with the 2014 regulations clearly open to quite broad variants of interpetations. Obviously, this is because we at the start of a fresh aerodynamic era, and much like we saw in 2009, the way of optimizing these regulations is unknown, and that is to some extent the case with the engines too. In 2015, like in 2010, the teams will converge of the optimal way of exploiting the regulations, but for now we have the prospect of 11 teams going about racing in 2014 in completely different ways in 2014 to look forward to.

    1. Yes, indeed. The team mate battle this year will be even more important, because the world title could be decided on that detail…

    2. This is why I wish the regulations were more open, think I’d the variety we would have!

    3. Really wished everyone would stop complaining about the new cars looks, they already look better than anything from 2009-2013. The new noses are fine, especially love how futuristic the mclaren looks. The Lotus is of course absolute horror but I love the variety on display here. If they look like penises to you its time to look down on your own penis to check it out.

  8. Sweet! That looks like a proper car, not a vacuum cleaner, a gentleman’s sausage or a double dong!

    1. oh please….

  9. They’ve done pictures of a grey car – with a grey background…

    1. Yep, there are a few shades there.

      1. Somewhere around fifty I think.

    2. They’re Formula 1 engineers, not photographers, after all.

      1. I would imagine that the people who took the photos were photographers.

    3. @bradley Well, I think the industrial concrete background is way more interesting than the white from Force India and Ferrari..

    4. As a photographer/designer, it works well for me because the grey and colors on the car stand out quite well. With the floor and background being different shades than the car it is almost an excellent black and white photo, except the colors on the jump out. Very tasteful to my eye.

      The car looks great too. A straight on shot will tell more about the nose, but so far so good.

  10. That looks amazing…just wooow :)

  11. Hello again, finger-nose.

  12. Great looking car, just a shame about the drivers…

    1. @magnificent-geoffrey – My sentiments exactly…

    2. Indeed, it is a very uninspiring line up. Solid enough, but I’m not expecting either to set the world alight.

      Compared to Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Force India and even Toro Rosso, Lotus, perhaps also Williams – none of their drivers look like they could do anything special.

      1. @vettel1 – Yes, compared to some line-ups it is frankly dreary. The Force India, Toro Rosso and especially Williams line ups look good…

        1. @william-brierty I am very interested in Kvyat: he looked pretty good in GP3 and for Red Bull to oust Da Costa in favour of him means he must have been showing some promise to them. So Toro Rosso – despite being one of the most uninspiring teams – has one of the most inspiring line-ups!

          1. @vettel1 – I would still be happier if Da Costa was there. My line is, and always has been, that the decision to promote Kvyat over Da Costa was a knee-jerk based on who was winning at the time. Essentially, Da Costa didn’t get the seat because he didn’t win the FR3.5 title, but there are very good reasons for that because a) Magnussen found a new gear and b) Arden Caterham, as they have repeatedly said, struggled to setup the car, and with setup being so prevalent in FR3.5, as demonstrated by Sorensen’s one weekend hurrah at Spielberg, Da Costa was driving with one hand tied behind his back. And doesn’t the fact that he was only just off Vettel’s pace in RB9 at the Silverstone test, and actually quicker than Ricciardo, suggest that there is a tangible reason for Da Costa’s poor season in FR3.5, and that he didn’t simply sneeze and let all of his 2012 form out?

            However, whilst Arden were struggling in FR3.5, they found a rich vane of form in the closing rounds of GP3, as demonstrated with both Kvyat and Sainz, which allowed Kvyat to pick up his until then quite anonymous season and win the title. Certainly, as of the Hungarian round of GP3, Kvyat was not really considered a championship challenger, and it was only a renewed understanding of the new Dallara GP3/13 chassis over the summer break that saved Kvyat’s campaign. Couple that, with the fact Kvyat was utterly overshadowed by Da Costa and Sainz at the Silverstone test, and there is no doubt in my mind that Da Costa is a better driver than Kvyat and has more potential in F1.

            Now that does not mean at all that Kvyat doesn’t deserve a shot in F1, he is definitely good enough, but equally, as demonstrated by the fact that Tost ruled Kvyat out of the drive just weeks before he was announced on the basis of a lack of experience, he could have done with a season in FR3.5 or GP2 first. And yet here he is, do we reckon that it is anything to do with the fact that he is Russian in this year of the Russian GP…?

            However, there’s no need for concern on the part of a Da Costa fan like me, because if he fairs well against a brilliant field of drivers in the DTM, then his talent shall once again be quantified, and with each dry qualifying serving to highlight Vergne’s fundamental aversions to the handling of an F1 car, then I think we will see Antonio in F1 in 2015.

      2. Yes, they should have made an effort to keep the Hulk. And I know they need Gutiérrez’ money, but what a shame….and a waste of a seat.

        Bernie needs to fix it so the teams get more of the purse so they have proper drivers and not sell seats to highest bidders while Bernie and friends line their pockets and ruin F1 for us, the fans.

        1. @daved – I don’t think Sauber could have kept Hulkenberg, because a) they can’t afford not to have two pay drivers and b) the Mercedes engine in the Force India is hotly tipped, and over the past few seasons Force India has proved that its technical team is the more adept than Sauber’s. I really think Force India, the Mercedes V6 and Nico Hulkenberg will be a regular top six finisher, and on balance Force India was probably a better option than Lotus even…

          1. “b) the Mercedes engine in the Force India is hotly tipped, and over the past few seasons Force India has proved that its technical team is the more adept than Sauber’s. I really think Force India, the Mercedes V6 and Nico Hulkenberg will be a regular top six finisher”

            How many times has a Force India car finished on the podium vs a Sauber car? because I don’t understand your comment at all!

          2. I can see where @william-brierty is coming from. Considering the rumors about the Mercedes engine being really strong this year, and Force India doing more with less over the years…and most of that is more overall speed vs expertise with exhaust blow diffusers, then I can see Force India coming out well this year.

            On the other hand, the fact that both Sauber and Ferrari are coming out with smaller air ducts/intakes and I’m starting to get nervous that maybe Ferrari has found something with the new engines that Merc and Renault are missing. Or maybe they’re just doing some really good drugs and they need to share with the rest of us? LOL
            I am so excited about this year and all the new and unexpected possibilities that I can’t stand it! Let’s get this party started! :)

            And Keith will keep us all informed with the best site in the interweb for all things F1.

          3. @rockie – It’s really not about the number of podiums, it’s about being consistent in a technical regard, and for three out of the last four seasons Force India have had the fastest car in the midfield (I’m counting 2010 because the VJM03 was clearly faster than the FW32, but the Barrichello-Hulkenberg line up was a royal flush to Force India’s two pear in Sutil-Liuzzi). The C31, which yielded the Sauber podiums you talk of, was a fabulous race car, and easily good enough for 5th in the 2012 WCC ahead of Mercedes (if Sauber’s 2012 season is viewed with hindsight, they failed to maximize the performance of the car – at Silverstone they probably actually had the fastest car on track), but Sauber’s other efforts have not nearly been as meritorious. If the VJM07 turns out to be fast and crucially reliable, I don’t think it is at all unfeasible that Hulkenberg could actually win a race this year…

            @daved – Yes, it is certainly concerning to compare the F14 T and the C33 with the MP4-29 and to see such a blatant different in cooling utility. Does that suggest that Ferrari have found a way of managing temperature, something that will be utterly pivotal to reliability and therefore the championship in 2014? Maybe, but what is certain is that it is too early to suggest either way, and that Mercedes and Renault’s flagship contenders in the W05 and the RB10 will give away clues to just that.

    3. Agreed. About the only thing that gives me hope there is Gutierrez thrashing Sutil. Doesn’t seem all that likely, guess that’s why it is just a hope…

  13. Where’s the McGregor signing?

    1. @verstappen Good point, I was looking for that too.

      1. On the simulator, the same place the McGregor driver will be!

      2. And isn’t Medion Sutil’s brand?
        Maybe they made these a few months ago, and bare everything at the tests.
        Or maybe I smell fish..,

  14. The best one so far.

  15. No more pictures?

    1. @edmarques This appears to be it. Rather like the Force India ‘launch’, perhaps they don’t want us getting a good view of how ugly the front is.

      1. @keithcollantine hahaha good one!
        Tuesday we will get to see how ugly they all are

  16. Best looking nose so far. Tight sidepod like we’ve seen on F14T … does that mean Ferrari engine need less cooling?

  17. Surely the FIA would have anticipated these ugly noses( again)… The pre-2009 cars has low noses as well and that didn’t force the teams to designs such ugly cars. can anyone please explain the specific rule change that has resulted in such ugly noses?

    1. Lots of use of the word “ugly” for the last few days. Who cares? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder — all I care about is the performance.
      Anyone else remember the first rear-engined F1 car? When I saw Jack Brabham’s Cooper at the the 1957 Monaco GP, there was all sorts of talk about “how it looked” and most people weren’t impressed. But who would go back to an engine in front of the driver nowadays?

      1. If you don’t care about how the car look, it’s a bit weird to see you in the comment section of a post about pictures, which say nothing about the car’s performance.

        And there again, just because you aren’t interested in how the cars look it doesn’t mean everybody else isn’t.

    2. Aimal, I think the cars are different because you can’t unlearn what you know now. Cars in the 80s had low noses because the designers did not realize how much more down force high noses would produce. As technology marches on, there is no going back.

  18. best looking car so far but i have to wait until i wil see the images from the front because i still have some doubts about the nose

  19. from this picture I think, that the nose will be very similar to the McLaren one. maybe a little bit better-looking, but anyway.. it’s funny.. apart of the ugly noses, most of the cars look better than 2013.. at least to me..

  20. Nigelstash (@)
    26th January 2014, 16:00

    Pen*s noses are better looking than stepped noses and low noses are better looking than high noses. All this year’s cars look better.

  21. Nigelstash (@)
    26th January 2014, 16:01

    ferrari looks best so far though

  22. I suspect this one, like the Force India, has a sting not in the tail, but in the nose.
    I’ll try and watch the races from the side this year – the cars are looking good from that angle at least.

    Unlike the photographic community (Darren Heath, James Moy I like their colour scheme, but I hope Williams do something yellow (or Martini-striped ) higher up to distinguish their car a bit more from the Sauber.

  23. The car does look nice, although I am quite disappointed with the livery. It does not appear to be different from last years car. Otherwise looks like a decent package.

  24. Best looking so far. McLaren, Williams and Mercedes very similar. Sauber will be too. Prefer the 2014 noses than the stepped ones.

  25. Best looking so far. McLaren, Williams and Mercedes very similar. Sauber will be too. Prefer the 2014 noses than the stepped ones.

  26. I like the natural curve of the nose, but the rest is pretty dull. I do have to compliment them for the positioning of the Claro sponsorship on the front wing endplate, which is a pretty nice way to incorporate sponsors into the technical side of the car. They seem to have borrowed Ferrari’s front wing, though.

  27. Steph (@stephanief1990)
    26th January 2014, 16:11

    The livery is better than last year’s but it still isn’t great. The actual shape of the car is easily the best we’ve seen so far. The nose doesn’t even look that bad!

  28. hopefully pretty ain’t slow…

  29. Sauber: best looking car in 2013 and 2014 :)

  30. Alex McFarlane
    26th January 2014, 17:22

    I quite like this one, the wing pylons seem to have been located in such a way as to make the transition to the finger less noticeable, less jarring. If this is the case when the car is seen from other angles, I hope this design is successful as at first glance this seems the most elegant solution and other teams may follow suit.

    1. teams will not follow for “elegance”, only if its fast. if sauber in struggling you can bet this nose will be off in no time.

  31. Seems to have the same nose shape as the McLaren.

  32. So Claro are sponsoring Sauber AND Force India?

    1. Geoff the anteater
      26th January 2014, 18:57

      Where are their drivers from?

    2. Marlboro sponsored a ton of drivers in F1, just look at how many drivers are wearing their logo at the first race of 1996.

      http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/272/9/a/drivers__group_photo__australia_1996__by_f1_history-d6ogbj0.jpg

  33. How is this nose much different from what Mclaren did?
    This is simply a Walrus – Elephant seal Hybrid.

  34. At the very least, it doesn’t look like it has a slot quite as noticeable as the McLaren’s. That didn’t help the… less than savory effect that nose created.

    As for the livery, it looks the same, and that’s a good thing. The Sauber looked fantastic last year, and it looks good again this year.

  35. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    26th January 2014, 19:00

    I guess it’s not just the angle, the car is definitely a beauty

  36. Funny how reactions can be so different to two such similar cars https://www.racefans.net/2014/01/24/mclaren-mp4-29-first-pictures/mcla-mp4-29-side-2014/
    Good old subjectivity.

  37. I am going a bit off side here with all the nose comments and stuff, but look at the background on the photo, what do you see? A concrete structure held up by springs??*** is that?

  38. I dont like the gray, I would prefer flat black, maybe.

    Also, I think Sauber’s… nose is bigger than Mclaren’s.

  39. May be I am seeing too much, but the sidepods also look smaller compared to Mclaren and Williams.

    May be Ferrari indeed have an easy-to-cool engine. The advantage of that could be massive. Ferrari-engined cars will have a more strealined body allowing more air to go the diffuser.

    We now need to see the sidepod of a Renault-powered car.

    1. Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
      26th January 2014, 21:11

      We now need to see the sidepod of a Renault-powered car.

      See the Lotus E-22

    2. The Ferrari side pods a small too, compared to the huge McLaren ones. It’s possible they do have a cooling advantage, we’ll see the Marussia on Tuesday. This is why I’m enjoying these ugly cars, to see who’s got it right.

  40. Best looking car of 2014! (So Far)

  41. I’m very interested, give us more pictures even the air intake is interesting ala 2001 Jordan.

  42. After all the totally freaked F1 fan’s reaction to the first car’s previews, Sauber doesn’t even show the front of the car, but, from one of the photos it seams also a ‘penile’ front, even if it seams the less ugly, so far.

    I bet Red Bull and other Teams are running around trying to change there car front end before presentation, even if it is a mask job…

    Jerez is going to have a XXX Convention, instead of a Formula 1 test week… LOL

  43. I’m still waiting for a 2014 nose that looks worse than a stepped nose…

  44. Pretty small engine cover openings for the radiators – just like the Ferrari
    Ferrari must have given a spec to Sauber for cooling that looks less than some of the others…especially the McLaren..
    Be interesting to see what engine combo’s run hot….

  45. This is my favourite team and i think that they have a very nice car.

    1. I’m in Switzerland, so this is my home team. But I can’t stand Sutil. ZZzzzzzzzz.

      To me the cars this year look great so far. Looking forward to seeing if they still do out on track.

      This seems to be building into the most interesting start to the season in a long time.

  46. Looking forward to the results from the not yet existing “Vote for your Favourite F1 car” article!

    Can I spot a similarities in the Sauber nose and the nose used on the Ferrari 156?

  47. I wouldn’t be so happy about the Sauber, at least until we see it from above and from the front. IMO it will be very similar to the McLaren, with slightly better appearance due to paint job.

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