Sauber C31 Launch

[Tom]

January 25 – Caterham CT01
February 1 – McLaren MP4-27
February 3 – Ferrari (TBA)
February 3 – Force India VJM05
February 5 – Lotus E20
February 6 – Red Bull RB8
February 6 – Sauber C31
February 7 – Williams FW34
February 7 – Toro Rosso STR7
February 21 – Mercedes W03
February 21 – HRT F112
March 1 – Marussia MR01

With two cars being launched on the same day, the Sauber C31 may not as highly anticipated as Red Bull's RB8 but with two fantastic drivers; Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez it will be interesting to see if Sauber can deliver a competitive package.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

*facepalm*

I know it's still Saturday in England. The C31 doesn't get launched until Monday. We don't create launch threads until the day before, usually because there is no information about them beforehand.

 

[Tom]

*Mega Facepalm*

My apologies, would you like me to lock the thread and get it deleted by a Moderator?

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Don't bother. We're just going to have to open it up again in twelve hours. Just remember that in future, there's no need to create a thread too far in advance. We have the same (unofficial) rule with race reports.

 

[Tom]

Don't bother. We're just going to have to open it up again in twelve hours. Just remember that in future, there's no need to create a thread too far in advance. We have the same (unofficial) rule with race reports.

Not a problem, thanks for your help.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Not to be mean, but why do I get the feeling that you want to "land lock" the F1 launch threads?

 

[Tom]

I've managed to secure some information regarding the C31. Here's what Peter Sauber said.

Sauber's 2012 Formula One car has an ugly bump on its nose, boss Peter Sauber has hinted.

Before the launch of the unseemly Caterham F1, Ferrari officials admitted their own Maranello built car is also "ugly" due to new regulations.


For this year, the FIA is requiring the pointed nose of the cars to be lower, while the actual monocoque height stays the same.

In the wind tunnels around Europe, it is believed most teams have found that the best solution is to radically taper the nose, despite the fact it is not pretty.

"Yes, for reasons of aerodynamics, this step in the nose is almost inevitable," admitted Peter Sauber, a week before the Hinwil built C31 is revealed.

The Swiss said the Ferrari powered car has passed all the mandatory FIA crash tests and will be fired up for the first time this week.

What about the livery colour?

"That is a secret of course," Sauber smiled to the Sonntagsblick newspaper. "All I can say is that the basic colour is white, but the overall impression is dark, with red.

"In short, it is different (compared to 2011). I remain a friend of the colour white, although often on television some cars cannot be well distinguished."

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I have to say the one thing that gets me excited for the Sauber release is what will the livery look like. Will it stay plain or not, but what Peter Sauber said has me glued now. I was really only looking forward to the RB8 and FW34, but I can add the C31 to this now.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Not to be mean, but why do I get the feeling that you want to "land lock" the F1 launch threads?

I don't. I honestly don't care who creates the threads. But it's a question of creating them at an appropriate time. There is virtually no information available about the cars, so we inevidtably end up discussing something else. Like we are now.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Yes but if it was never brought up, essentially this thread would just be on stand by for the release which in turn hurts no one.

Just saying. I can understand if this was made a year or month in advance, hell even a week I'd agree with you on. But a day and a half just seems to be beating a dead horse.

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

There is one thing:

 

[Tom]

There is one thing:

I did find that picture, then I found out it was apparently the C30. So I didn't post it.

 

[hawkeye122]

Why doesn't a team use just the bare carbon for their livery?

Obviously, they get more sponsor $ by having it be their sponsors colour... But they could do a Neon-Green-on-Carbon livery. That would stand out.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Why doesn't a team use just the bare carbon for their livery?

Probably because it would look horrible. I know we all love the idea of a bare-carbon look, but the pieces of the racing car are manufactured in the way that gives them the most strength. The end result of this is that the naked chassis has patterns in the carbon fibre that all run in different directions. Any team wanting to use a raw carbon livery would need to actually apply a livery over the top. And given the intricate detail involved, it would doubtless be very heavy. I seem to recall reading somewhere that the total amount of paint and decals on a car can weigh up to seven kilograms - and the infamous Honda RA107 "Earth Dreams" design (which is perhaps the closest design to a blank carbon livery in terms of the detail needed) weighed twice that.

 

[Tom]

This is all I could find, so far.

 

[Liquid]

I can barely make out what is on that screen.

I'm unsure how large a leap forward Sauber can make this year. They made a great start last season, with Perez and Kobayashi, but then they started to fade away towards the end of the year.

Beating Williams/competing with the Force India is the goal. Same as last year, I suppose.

Do we know of any particular nuances on this year's car?

 

[ZEROX]

Platypus nose on Sauber? Very likely from what i saw from that small screen.

 

[Prince.M5]

Platypus nose on Sauber? Very likely from what i saw from that small screen.

Not sure if it's a Platypus or just simply a stepped-nose like Ferrari's, but one thing that Peter himself confirmed us is that there will be a stepped-nose on their cars.

The new livery is also very exciting. I am honestly getting bored with the old BMW-esque livery so this new one will definitely fresh things up. Now I wonder if they're going to use last year's rims because I love those.

 

[Liquid]

The new livery is also very exciting. I am honestly getting bored with the old BMW-esque livery so this new one will definitely fresh things up. Now I wonder if they're going to use last year's rims because I love those.

Traditionally, Saubers are silver. Which is also boring.

I used to love the blue Red Bull era, and in terms of F1 their original cars were actually similar to that carbon picture a few posts up.

 

[ZEROX]

The new livery is also very exciting. I am honestly getting bored with the old BMW-esque livery so this new one will definitely fresh things up. Now I wonder if they're going to use last year's rims because I love those.

White overall at the body and black with red stripes on the nose if my eyes didn't make any mistake.

Yeah, finally new livery!

 

[Robin]

You know I don't see why people think so highly of Perez's F1 talent. I think he's a pretty poor pay driver like Maldonado. Regardless of their prior accolades they arnt that great at F1 and I wish we could see good drivers in midfield seats rather than walking checkbooks.

As for the car I hope they make its livery look better this year. Its looked like no frills supermarket packaging for the last few years!

 

[Prince.M5]

Traditionally, Saubers are silver. Which is also boring.

I used to love the blue Red Bull era, and in terms of F1 their original cars were actually similar to that carbon picture a few posts up.

Silver is definitely boring.

The Red Bull era was definitely one of the best, but my favourite was their Petronas era. The green, blue and white with a little bit of yellow was something different and unique and by then it was really easy to spot Sauber's car on the track and on TV. I think the first one was the C12 and were in black with white wings which also looks cool.

White overall at the body and black with red stripes on the nose if my eyes didn't make any mistake.

You sure or not? *ah beng style*

 

[Liquid]

You know I don't see why people think so highly of Perez's F1 talent. I think he's a pretty poor pay driver like Maldonado. Regardless of their prior accolades they arnt that great at F1 and I wish we could see good drivers in midfield seats rather than walking checkbooks.

Who is more deserving of a drive in a Sauber then?

Original Sauber livery.

Great Sauber livery.

 

[ZEROX]

You sure or not? *ah beng style*

Surelah.

 

[Robin]

Who is more deserving of a drive in a Sauber then?

All those guys who have had to leave F1 over the last few years due to not getting a seat despite getting decent results but not having some huge state company backing them.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Perez has got lots of potential, and he is a Ferrari Academy thingy product as well.

 

[Prince.M5]

All those guys who have had to leave F1 over the last few years due to not getting a seat despite getting decent results but not having some huge state company backing them.

In this time of economy crisis, money is everything to keep the project going. There's no use if you have a talented driver but don't have the money to develop the car and keep the project going, right?

 

[Robin]

In this time of economy crisis, money is everything to keep the project going. There's no use if you have a talented driver but don't have the money to develop the car and keep the project going, right?

Yes but you could get the same outcome by having great drivers who attract funding to the team, I guess most of the mid to low field are too scared to put that trust in someone and basically want money upfront.

The problem is if you keep hiring pay drivers that don't really perform you will have a team which will exsist forever but with nothing to show!

Perez has got lots of potential, and he is a Ferrari Academy thingy product as well.

I bet that if a higher paying driver came along he would be out the door because they don't have time to develop that potential. Look what happened with Petrov.

 

[CarolinaBlue704]

All those guys who have had to leave F1 over the last few years due to not getting a seat despite getting decent results but not having some huge state company backing them.

Sergio got decent results to go along with a few very impressive drives. He also fared well against Kobayashi in qualifying. He's in Ferrari's Driver Academy for a reason. Ferrari was impressed with the testing he did at Fiorano late last season. There is a real possibility that he will end up at Ferrari in the near future. Assuming he builds on his performance from last season.

 

[Prince.M5]

Yes but you could get the same outcome by having great drivers who attract funding to the team, I guess most of the mid to low field are too scared to put that trust in someone and basically want money upfront.

The problem is if you keep hiring pay drivers that don't really perform you will have a team which will exsist forever but with nothing to show!

Makes sense but then, one problem. While having a great driver, making great results but then not many are interested in funding because of current economy is still a big blow. And who of a great driver are going to attract funding anyway? Barrichello?

I think most teams didn't want to take the risk and chose to have the money first, build a great car and let the drivers do their part. There's no disrespect to the pay drivers because some of them are good if not great. They can produce some results and Perez is one of them. Sadly the C30 wasn't all that good even Kobayashi couldn't do anything about it.

Personally, I have no problem with pay drivers because I can understand the condition nowadays. If I own a team, I'd definitely go for a pay driver who obviously have got some good background, recent results otherwise as you said, having a lot of money and can do anything to the car but nothing to show by the driver...