First pictures: Sauber C34 revealed

2015 F1 testing

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Sauber has revealed its 2015 F1 contender, the Ferrari-powered C34.

The team aims to bounce back from the poor season it endured last year in which it failed to score a point for the first time in its history.

“2014 was a very disappointing year,” said team principal Monisha Kaltenborn. “However, this is in the past, and we now focus on what comes next. We have learned our lessons and are confident for the new season.”

Sauber has replaced both its drivers for the coming year, with Marcus Ericsson joining the team from Caterham, where he made his debut last season.

Felipe Nasr, who finished third in GP2 last year, will make his first F1 start with the team. The new C34 carries the logos of his sponsor Banco do Brasil.

“In my rookie season there is a lot to learn,” said Nasr, “especially as I have not yet driven on some circuits yet”.

“In my role as test and reserve driver for Williams last year I was involved in every race weekend. Furthermore I also had the chance to drive the car a few times, so I think I have a certain understanding of Formula One. Now I am taking the next step in being a race driver, and I am looking forward to bringing my experience from 2014 as well as to supporting the Sauber F1 Team in getting back into the points.”

Following their problems last year Sauber set three major targets for the design of the new car: reducing weight, improving its braking performance and better handling in low-speed corners – the latter a particular weakness of the old car.

The team continue to use Ferrari’s power unit, and the team say that although the Scuderia’s 2015 design has higher cooling requirements they have managed to reduce the size of the C34’s sidepods compared to its predecessor.

This article will be updated

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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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101 comments on “First pictures: Sauber C34 revealed”

  1. Thats certainly different! I like the white parts added to it. Gives it a retro look.

    1. Devoid of meaningful sponsors other than the two provided by their race drivers..hmm..

  2. Looks great. Love the somewhat retro vibe this clean livery provides. Good job!

    1. Yeah the bight colours quite refreshing.
      We need more colour in F1.

    2. @tamburello I completely agree. It is something very classic, simple, and bright – very effective. I agree with some comments saying that the front should have more yellow, but it’s still easily one of my favourite liveries.

      The nose isn’t too bad either!

      1. I agree with you, looks a bit bland at the front. Definitely needs some colour there but overall looks quite good

    3. I reckon it’s got that Prost F1 Team vibe about it. I like it.

    4. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      30th January 2015, 20:36

      Reminds me of the Sauber of Felipe and Kimi, back in 2001.

      1. @tamburello and @omarr-pepper, I was looking at some pics of old saubers and it looks like the Sauber C14, with a sponsor shield similar to the F1.09.

        I think I’m starting to like it.

    5. You guys aren’t American so you probably didn’t pick up on it…but they’re sponsored by the Blue Angels!!! LOL

      http://perdidokeycharters.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Blue-Angels.jpg

    6. When will teams realise that no one will remember them if they are grey. Every period of dominace in F1 can be remembered by the colour of the time: the 1980s were the red and white Mclarens, the 2000s were the fiery red Ferraris and the early 2010s were the red and yellow Red Bulls. If you don’t want to be remebered, go for grey.

      So, well done Sauber! I’m not saying you’re going to have a period of dominance but at least you don’t blend into the colour of the track!

  3. Best paint job so far!

    1. Just behind Williams Martini :) It could have a bit of yellow at the front but looks good anyway.

    2. I don’t know if I like that blue… but Banco do Brasil paid enough money to force a new livery so, I hope they walk oof the financial troubles of recent years.

      I like Nasr and wish him and Sauber a good season.

      1. I like the blue. Reminds me of a hedgehog that first appeared in 1991… :D

        1. I remember Sonic sponsoring McLaren in the early 90’s. Was it 1993?

    3. Predominantly blue and yellow – just like the flags they will see most this year.

      1. I see what you did there :D

  4. That’s quite dull, especially with barely any sponsors. Needs more yellow, too. And the nose looks a bit… Stupid?

    1. Needs more green, methinks. Go full Brazil. At the risk of having Ericsson always thinking he’s driving Nasr’s cars.

      1. He’s probably quite happy with the current blue and yellow!

    2. The Blade Runner (@)
      30th January 2015, 10:59

      Duller than grey!?

      I like it and it refreshes the brand.

      looks like my beloved McLaren have the worst livery so far!

      1. Duller than grey!?

        Yes, that had some concept behind it, this is just nothingness. As someone said on twitter, Sauber don’t seem to have a graphic designer.

        1. @hunocsi Can’t afford one!

    3. It seems Sauber lost a few sponsors this season, NEC, Claro and Telmex logos are gone. Not so good for a team that struggling financially. I hope there is a few more logos on there before Australia.

    4. @hunocsi Personally I love it, but the bare paint with no sponsors is a massive worry.

    5. I agree. I am extremely disappointed with this livery. With those colours, you could make such a beautiful paintjob. One would think that Sauber of all teams would know how to do a blue car right. What’s with the ugly white? It looks completely out of place. And what about the bare carbon fibre wings? At least have the decency to paint them black or something. The overalls clash horrifyingly too.

      And as you say, the presence of Banco do Brasil and virtually no other sponsors reveals how desperately cash-strapped this team are.

  5. I like it, although 100% blue would have been even been better.

    But is it me or do the 2015 cars quite resemble GP2 or even F3000 cars?

    1. I agree with you, especially the Lotus nose looks taken from an F3 car.

    2. yeah the yellow ruins it.

    3. @matthijs It’s definitely not just you. That was one of the first things I thought, especially with this, the Lotus, and the Mercedes. To be fair that is probably a good thing, as it is simpler and less aesthetically displeasing (not that it’s ever bothered me that much personally).

  6. Good to see a bit of colour finally, although the nose looks “interesting” it could also do with a splash of yellow lines or something for looks.

    But yeah, relieved to see their grey with greyish white go.

    1. Shame they didn’t bring new overalls to the shoot, would hope both drivers get blue ones before the season starts

    2. Interesting is one way to put it. Ugliest nose of 2015 imho. And the move away from dull grey is nice, I think they could have been a bit more creative. Certainly not a classic livery featuring blue and yellow, unlike the Willams (as someone has already noted), the mid-00’s Renault, or even the ’95 Benetton. Unlikely anyone will usurp Williams as being the best current livery at this rate…

      1. Should say ‘and while the move away from dull grey is nice…’

        Damn no edit!

    3. My thoughts exactly! I was quite disappointed with the stubbornly grey McLaren and the nearly colourless Force India. Williams and Mercedes weren’t going to change their liveries much and the grid had been getting pretty grey already with the demise of Caterham and Marussia. I was fearing that the only cars with any colour on them would soon be the two Ferraris! So well done Sauber, I hope they get some more sponsors too.

    4. Can someone enlighten me: is this the first time Sauber uses a non-white or non-grey livery?

      1. Saubers from 90s-00s were blue with red bull and petronas and black before that

      2. No, they were predominantly blue until BMW took ownership of the team in 2006.

      3. Started black in 93, then blue from 94 to 2005. Red Bull was Saubers main sponsor for a long time, before they´ve purchased their own team.

  7. Looks like Sauber have adopted Chelsea FC’s colours for their own this season…

    1. At least with the ‘Club Sauber’ and the Chelsea cross-branding they were trying something. But what became of that? Nothing!
      This new car is a very expensive and fast moving advertising hoarding for a bank. That is not a dream I really root for, but, had they tied the Chelsea link up properly then they could get lots of fans by proxy and be part of some ‘club’ ticketing deal. It could have worked.
      It is easy to criticise Sauber and not see them as a team that aspires to win. To a certain extent they are just there, hoping for some change of fortune and forever hoping. Sad. So, what could Sauber be?
      Well, there is the ‘Swiss’ thing. Swiss engineering is the best of breed in every arena, words like precision come to mind and pictures of immaculately finished, shiny bits of metal. With Sauber I am not seeing this. The Swiss flag is a big plus, they should be using it and presenting their car as very Swiss.
      There are few countries with as many big banks as Switzerland. There are few countries with as many precision engineering companies as Switzerland. There are also those vast food corporations with headquarters in Switzerland. They have scores of brands suited to F1, suited because they are global brands.
      Sauber should also try to sub-contract the work needed to build parts for the car and other tasks to Swiss companies with a sponsorship deal as part of the contract. This is how military work gets done, albeit badly, and it is the way the Swiss watch industry works – a ‘ridiculous’ level of suppliers and sub-contractors. Imagine if the resultant car was visibly the group effort of many Swiss companies healthily supported by big brand companies that everyone has heard of – e.g. a ‘Gold Blend’ livery could be good. There could be a winning car borne from that chemistry. If they could also get two Swiss drivers then they would get that Swiss flag on the score-boards too.
      Wouldn’t it be great if we feared the engineering ability of the Swiss and were in awe of their wizardry? Instead Sauber are treading water and show no sign of some vision that will make winning the expected form.

      1. I can see why sponsors are falling away ,
        What exposure do they get to new / prospective clientele ?
        Millions of $$$ spent , they get some corporate catering on race day to people that already buy the product ,
        The pictures of the cars running around with their logos are shown on TV on race day and ( almost) never to be seen again ,
        FOM is making a product that people are less likely to see as value , I think soon the mega rich will start seeing that too,
        What happens if we lose Sauber this year , or FI?
        My main point is , what does a sponsor get for the millions of $$$$
        spent ,

    2. Chelsea need to update their pitchside advertising for “Sauber F1 Team”. Still got the grey car on there…
      Wonder what those ads have achieved anyway? They certainly haven’t led to the cars being covered in logos.
      At least there’s more synergy between the two sporting brands: “Bluuuuue is the colour, F1 is the game. Weeee are Sauber, and winning is our…erm, forget about the winning bit“.

  8. its like someone tried to do the 92 Williams from memory…and got it all wrong

  9. Best livery so far! Just a bit more yellow and a few sponsors.

    1. More yellow, more white would make it great. Interestingly, despite being clearly designed to please Banco do Brasil, blue and yellow are also Sweden’s colors, so Ericsson is happy too.

  10. First Ligier, then Prost, then Renault… All teams that fell by the wayside. But they all now have one thing in common with Sauber, they were all predominantely blue… Lets hope it isn’t an omen.

    1. Meanwhile Williams and Red Bull appear to be doing incredibly well.

    2. They might be names that fell by the wayside, but Ligier became Prost and of the three listed only Prost folded.

      Renault continues as the current Lotus. Also Williams was predominantly blue in recent years, the original Red Bull was predominantly blue, Tyrrell ran mainly blue cars (the team whose history leads to the current Mercedes outfit) and even Ferrari ran all blue (customer) cars in the early years.

  11. Banco Do Brazil Mobile with a ship mounted on the nose … basically

  12. Yay, colours! Let´s hope someone fills some of that free blue space…

  13. I bet Marcus Ericsson is very happy about the colour. And all of Sweden. Blue and yellow – are the national colours.

  14. Is it me, or is the sidepod undercut almost non existent compared to the other cars we’ve seen so far?

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      30th January 2015, 10:35

      Thanks @melkurion, first technical comment.

      Not sure if it less of an undercut and/or that the body is much wider (sidepod air intake smaller and more outward).
      Front images of Sauber compared to https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/MP4-30-Low-front-on.jpg and https://www.racefans.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/merc-w06-2015-11-886×498.jpg

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        30th January 2015, 12:05

        When you compare the two, almost every part of the car looks less developed on the Sauber.

        1. Yes, the car looks very bulky and slow, not a good omen.

    2. Interesting, much more open design around the apparently smaller airbox compared to most of the others so far.

  15. It totally sucks they don’t have more sponsors, I love those bright colours, looks kind of retro, looks like the 90’s Williams

  16. Well unlike the williams, at least sauber have a bit of girth about them……

  17. Who said there will be no variety of noses?!

  18. Need more sponsors to bring out the car and more yellow as already commented

  19. Happy that it is not any variation silver/chrome/grey.

    Shame they don’t have more sponsors although I was thinking the same for Mclaren and Williams.

  20. Love the paintjob. Finally some color to the grid.

  21. So this is how bad of a condition sauber are in huh? I can’t spot more than 5-6 sponsors

    1. Neither can McLaren….

    2. ColdFly F1 (@)
      30th January 2015, 10:47

      Or Mercedes: Petrobras (Primax/Syntium); BlackBerry; Epson; BOSS; Qualcomm!

      1. ColdFly F1 (@)
        30th January 2015, 10:48

        At least Sauber gives their sponsors the royal treatment with coloured logos ;-)

  22. I think it’s a little dull.. Some more white and yellow stripes on the car would be better (not to mention some more sponsors!). But what I’m wondering is, shouldn’t the nose regulations make them more alike between them? (or at least it is what everyone said it was going to happen) I’m really liking all the different nose approaches! And I don’t know if it is a matter of habit, but I think I like the Williams’ nose the better!

  23. Best looking livery so far, shame the same can’t be said about the nose.

  24. the lack of sponsors makes me sad.

  25. Love the colours, shame about the lack of sponsors and ugly nose.
    Is this a tribute to Ronnie Peterson (like Ericsson last year)?:)

  26. Fritz Oosthuizen (@)
    30th January 2015, 10:16

    Did anyone think about the money Sauber is saving by not scoring last year? Entry fee is on previous years points scored.

  27. maarten.f1 (@)
    30th January 2015, 10:19

    Another team with so little sponsors. The state of F1 is quite worrying. I wonder if it’s a matter of the teams overpricing themselves, or whether potential sponsors are just not interested anymore. And if so, why?

    1. @maarten-f1 The number of sponsors interested in sponsoring not just F1 but motorsport in general has been in decline the past few years as a result of the 2008 economic crisis which affected much of the world. Its starting to recover but there are still many sponsors who were in F1 who are still unable to give the sort of backing they could before.

      The bigger issue is that when tobacco sponsorship started to be banned worldwide it was hoped/expected that technology companies would come in & fill the void so many teams pushed really hard to get many of those companies.
      Problem has been that for the most part tech companies haven’t showed a great deal of interest in sponsorship so the gap left by the tobacco ban has never been filled.

      Teams relied more on having more smaller sponsors rather than 1 big title sponsor but many of those smaller companies are the one’s who were hit hardest by the economic mess so they were some of the 1st to pull out of sponsoring big events.

  28. It’s a bit weird that the cars that Nasr drives are always blue and yellow. Banco do Brasil is surely a very powerful sponsor. Though Ericsson won’t be disappointed, those are the colors of Sweden!
    All in all the livery is a bit boring even if I’m a big fan of blue and yellow liveries on race cars.

  29. Have to say I don’t like that livery at all. Amateurish and something I could’ve come up with in paintbrush. Makes them look like a backmarker, which might be the case, particularly with a less than inspiring driver line-up. I hope it’s not though because I like Sauber.

  30. That’s something to cheer about! Very nice indeed, way to go.

  31. Retro as hell… unfortunately it looks quite sponsor-less at the moment, and the nose is a bit of an eye sore somehow. But alas, some colour!

  32. Looks very Retro at first glance to me, I like it!

    Then I see the front wing – somebody’s plonked Super Mario’s nose and put it on the Sauber.

  33. I’m sure Chelsea is happy that Sauber is going blue, but upset that you can barely see their logo now!

  34. Yet another GP2 clone. Horrible.

  35. Best looking car for now. And best solution for the nose…. appendage.

  36. There is an alarming lack of sponsors on a lot of cars this year, particularly the McLaren and now the Sauber. A sign of the times perhaps?

  37. It certainly stands out! Why on earth does it look like a GP2 car, though!? I really hope it performs better than last year’s car!

  38. That’s one ugly nose.

  39. Well, that’s more phallic than anything we saw last year, but I absolutely love the paint job – maybe it’s the retro feel, but to me that looks like a proper racing livery.

  40. I don’t understand you guys lately. You slam McLaren but praise this? It’s blue with a square of yellow on the side. This is the dulllest livery yet (bar the usual always red Ferrari. I much prefer McLaren’s which looks aggressive and sharp to this which feels as imaginative as a white business card.

  41. The colours make it look like the love child of a mid 90’s Williams and Benetton. I like the paint scheme, certainly more vibrant than the seemingly obligatory white/silver that a lot of teams favour nowadays.

  42. The nose reminds me very much about last years beautiful Red Bull nose, apart from the “tongue”.

  43. It looks like they started designing something, got as far as the sidepods then just decided “Ahh, plain blue from here will do”.

  44. Voila! Finally it IS a color there not 50shadesofgrey. Looks loks Nasr has become Sauber’s new general sponsor and Ericsson – the owner!

  45. Ah blue. Anyone remember blue cars?

  46. Looks like a Carlin. The car looks empty.

  47. I know it’s a little colour to the grid but I am actually going to miss the dark grey livery of the Sauber, Was one of my favourite on the grid last year. Good looking car. This one of the other hand, while may be colourful it most certainly isn’t beautiful in my eyes.

  48. I approve!

  49. My favourite of the current bunch of racers. Great to see Sauber rediscover colour. The livery, and the shape, remind me of Panis’ Monaco winning Ligier.

  50. I think the car would have looked a little sharper / more cool if the wing end plates were blue, yellow or alternate but this car looks very good and the white makes it seem retro. It is gonna stand out from the rest though cause most of the other teams seem to be into silver or gray .

    1. Nice to see Sauber with a unique livery again. The old petronas sauber is still a favorite of mine and this sort of reminds me of that.

  51. Nose,front wing and paint look insane but the rear of the car spoils it

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