Sauber: A fresh start in 2017
On the bangs of the presentation of its new single-seater, the C36, the Sauber team's directors emphasized the spirit of renewal and reconquest of the Swiss team, which has been lacking in performance for several seasons now.
The new Sauber C36 was unveiled this morning on the Swiss team’s website. This single-seater will be powered by a hybrid Ferrari power unit from 2016. An initial factor leading informed observers to suggest that this new season could once again be challenging for the men and women of Hinwil.
Monisha Kaltenborn, the Team Principal, sees 2017 as a new beginning after 25 years of Sauber in the premier motorsport discipline: “Together with Longbow Finance S.A [editor’s note: the team’s new owner], we have a great opportunity to become competitive again and to find success in Formula 1. We want to position ourselves with a new approach and have already taken the first steps to build solid foundations for the future.”
Even if the mid-table is the stated goal for this season, Kaltenborn knows that the team will have to improve significantly to achieve it: « We clearly need to improve. With the new C36, we have a foundation as solid as our resources to continue developing the car throughout the season. It will be important to establish ourselves in the mid-table. »
From a technical standpoint, the cars of the new regulations seem more aggressive and naturally faster, as confirmed by Jörg Zander, the Technical Director of the team: Fundamentally, the big teams also have an advantage when it comes to major regulatory changes, but when the cards are reshuffled, new opportunities can always arise. The Sauber C36 is wider and lower, with wider tires making the car more muscular than last year’s model, the C35. Practically just by looking at it, one can say that the speed of the new car has increased due to more downforce and shorter braking distances.
