Sauber plan weight cut, new aero and engine tweaks

2014 Spanish Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

Sauber are bringing a raft of updates for their C33 at the next race as they bid to end the point-less streak since the start of the season.

The team’s upgraded C33 will be lighter and benefit from aerodynamic upgrades plus changes to their engine’s electronic systems.

“At the Spanish Grand Prix both C33s will have essential revisions, following an extensive weight reduction and a significant aerodynamic update,” said head of track engineering Giampaolo Dall’Ara.

“This update consists of a modified front wing and a new engine cover, new side-pod fins and deflectors, as well as a number of other aerodynamic changes.

“Besides that, we will also have a software improvement which will enable us to use the potential of the power unit in a better way.”

Sauber’s best finish so far this season is Adrian Sutil’s 11th place at the Australian Grand Prix. However they are wary their other rivals are likely to have significant upgrades for their cars at the first European race of the year.

“We know that all the other teams are progressing as well, so it will be interesting to see where we stand. We will certainly do our best in order to race for points,” said Dall’Ara.

“We expect a busy Friday at the track while tuning the set-up to the new package,” he added.

Giedo van der Garde will drive for the team during the first practice session and also during the first day of the two-day test at the track the following week, when Sauber will be conducting tyre tests for Pirelli.

Sauber tested a two-year-old car at Fiorano with Simona de Silvestro driving over two days last weekend.

2014 Spanish Grand Prix

Browse all 2014 Spanish Grand Prix articles

Image © Sauber

Author information

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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

30 comments on “Sauber plan weight cut, new aero and engine tweaks”

  1. Try updating the drivers.

    1. Paul (@frankjaeger)
      2nd May 2014, 13:19

      Hehehe that made me laugh

    2. Try updating the team principal

      1. @celler It’s Sauber-Ferrari not Ferrari-Ferrari. Upgrading the drivers would be very good, get Simona for next season. Now seriously the Ferrari engine cars have benefited from a leaner aero package but the water cooler are heavier than the air coolers so the Ferrari engine cars should gain a lot of weight from the reduction in the weight of their cooling solutions, in particular Sauber who’s know to have 20 kg more than others.

        1. She got bounced out of Indycar. Why do a few here think she would be some sort of super star in F1?

          I suspect the interest is solely because she is a woman.

        2. Not sure if my first post went through. My wife and I watched a lot of Indycar last year, and Simona was not really a huge stand-out, and now she has been bounced out of the series altogether. We’re not sure why the hype to have her in F1, since she has hardly set the world on fire in other series. It must be merely because she is a woman.

          I guess we have 3 F1 competitions in one series: The top teams who actually compete for the title, the ones who strive to be the best of the rest, and the ones who are there to take up space at the back. If F1 was merely the top teams, there would be no hype for Ms. Simona.

          1. From what I know of Indycar (I watch it occasionally but a friend is a big fan and I do some reading), Simona was in a under powered car in 2012 with a Lotus engine weaker than both the Chevy and Honda so that’s hard to compare. So looking at 2013 it seemed her main weakness was ovals which are missing from F1 obviously and otherwise she has had some good results on circuit tracks. Then the other thing to consider is that the series is based around setup and engine development and being in a top team in Indy is just as important for their skill in base setups and a driver can only work from this. If you look at Lotus F1 this year they are running poor setups as they haven’t been able to run well and reckon something silly like a second of time might come from optimising once they get around to it.

            On all this let me quantify though. I don’t judge her as harshly as others do from her Indy results as it is hard to interpret them properly much like in F1. I feel judging her positions in Indy, to an extent, smacks of judging say a Toro Rosso for finishing 13th when that’s what the car is capable of.
            To also state I really doubt she will set the world on fire like but could be a solid mid-grid driver which is think is more than can be said for Mrs Wolff who is too old and out of open wheel racing for too long.

    3. @bullfrog

      Try updating the drivers.

      This is EXACTLY the first thing I thought too!!

    4. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      2nd May 2014, 15:26

      it really surprises me that Sauber has this dull line-up. A team that is famous for their discoveries in youngsters: Kimi, Felipe, Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica, Kamui, even Seb (for a race and tests) … I guess Esteban still has a chance, but Adrian? Come on, being beaten by PdR is not the best feat in his resumé.

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        2nd May 2014, 15:26

        discoveries and chances given to youngsters (Kamui was in Toyota first, Sebwas already a RB “student”

      2. Well they’re giving a lot of free practice driving to Van der Garde, so I actually expect one of the two drivers to be sacked mid season, and it probably will be Sutil, given that he doesn’t bring much sponsors compared to Gutiérrez.

      3. Well, they still have Van der Garde, Simona and Sirotkin, dont they? I think Sutil is the only one who doesnt fit in the “Sauber formula”.

    5. +a billion

    6. At least Sutil will now be able to take a drinks bottle with him in the car to make it to the finish @bullfrog!

      1. @bascb Could make all the difference. Good point.

  2. “We know that all the other teams are progressing as well, so it will be interesting to see where we stand. We will certainly do our best in order to race for points,” said Dall’Ara.

    Pretty much guaranteed a job in Motorsport with a name like that!

    1. Exactly what I though!! Hehe

    2. I bet he could gate crash a lot of parties, Indycar events, that sort of thing.

      “Giampaolo Dall’Ara” is apparently not related to “Gian Paolo Dallara”. This is surprising given the vast amount of nepotism that goes on in F1.

  3. Besides that, we will also have a software improvement which will enable us to use the potential of the power unit in a better way.

    So that will either mean they will receive the China update Ferrari that worked well for them or that Ferrari has planned another software update for the PU.

    Would be interesting to know which one of the two it is.

    1. Probably the former.

  4. Every team is getting big updates so we can expect the order to remain more or less the same, maybe Mclaren will jump ahead of FI and Lotus ahead of Toro Rosso, but there will not be a major change, specially at the front.

    1. I’m interested in what is going to happen to Williams

    2. Lotus are definitely in contention to be on the tail of the slower Mercedes teams now. Toro Rosso will have to try and stay in front of Sauber from now on.

    3. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      2nd May 2014, 21:10

      @mantresx I guess Mercedes doesn’t need to talk about upgrades, they are scary enough with results.

  5. I’m waiting very excitedly!

  6. Interesting similarity to last season so far, except this time they don’t have Hulkenberg.

  7. Low budget, increasing costs…its not about racing anymore. Until 2012 Sauber was always able to have a couple of upsets for the major teams…. Those days are gone. Even big powerhouses have to take off their pants and bend over…(Lotus, Williams)…what should you expect from Sauber….without Sauber (Peter). I’m still a fan, and I want them to succeed….but those days are gone. I realize that.

    1. What a fan. You could easily say Williams days are gone, since they havent scored a win since 2012, and back then they hadnt won since 2004. Or Mclaren, they havent won since 2012 either, have they?

Comments are closed.