The new Sauber

Sauber F1 has unveiled the new Sauber-Ferrari C34-Ferrari that will be raced by Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr this season. The team has had a complete change of livery with blue and yellow, which conveniently reflects Ericsson’s Swedish nationality and Nasr’s Banco do Brasil sponsorship.

“2014 was a very disappointing year,” said 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. We have to improve, and be able to fight for championship points. I am delighted about our two new drivers who bring a breath of fresh air. Both are young, talented and highly motivated. On their way to Formula 1 both stood out through victories in Formula BMW and Formula 3. Both then finished this career progression off in the GP2-Series. While Marcus looks back to one season in Formula 1, Felipe will have his rookie year in which he comes fully prepared due to his role as test and reserve driver at Williams last year. I feel confident with regard to our drivers.”

After a season with the most comprehensive technical changes in the history of Formula 1, there are significantly fewer regulation changes for the 2015 season. During the development of the new Sauber C34-Ferrari the Sauber F1 Team’s engineers focused on three areas: performance in slow corners, weight reduction, as well as braking stability.

Eric Gandelin, chief designer of the Sauber F1 Team, explained: “We were able to gain a lot of experience during the course of the 2014 season, which will have an influence on the Sauber C34.”

Aerodynamics traditionally play a key role in the development of a new car. But on this occasion it wasn’t only a question of optimising downforce and drag, but also improving the balance of the car and its responses in particular through low-speed corners.

The greatest visual difference compared to the Sauber C33 can be found around the nose section, which is now bigger in volume and lower to the ground following further changes to the technical regulations. This has a considerable impact on the aerodynamics of the entire car: the nose and front wing play a key role in determining how the air flows around the front wheels and how effectively the central and rear sections of the car function aerodynamically. The new design of the wheel rims has progressed in a similar direction, in the interests of optimising airflow around the front wheels.

The front suspension concept has changed little, with the springs and dampers again pushrod-actuated. However, the engineers put a lot of effort into improving the feedback from the steering for the drivers.

The sidepods of the new Sauber C34, are now slimmer than those of the Sauber C33, despite higher cooling requirements from the new power unit. This has been made possible by modifications to the attachment of the side crash elements. In addition, the architecture of the radiators, which are now positioned horizontally, has been fundamentally revised. The engineers also paid great attention to the flexibility of the cooling system, which can be adapted precisely – and individually for the various components – to the ambient temperature and circuit characteristics. For example, small air vents on the side of the cockpit are only used in certain situations.

The car’s engine, energy recovery system and gearbox are again supplied by Ferrari. The 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engine has a rev limit of 15,000 rpm. The technical regulations allow for certain components to be completely redesigned for the 2015 season. The aim has been not only to increase the power from the turbocharged engine, but above all to optimise the car’s energy recovery and energy storage capability.

In terms of its concept, the engine is very much comparable with last year’s, but its architecture has changed significantly, necessitating numerous adjustments to the chassis.