Sauber News

[Anna]

Team Info

Base: Hinwil, Switzerland
Team Principle: Peter Sauber
Chassis: Sauber C30
Engine: Ferrari
1st Driver: #16 Kamui Kobayashi
2nd Driver: #17 Sergio Perez
3rd Driver: Eseban Gutierrez
Website: www.sauberf1team.com/en/home.cfm
Twitter: n/a
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauber

Statistics

Year Entered: 1993
1st Grand Prix: 1993 South African GP
Races: 228
Wins: 0
Highest Race Pos: 3rd (1995 Italian GP, 1996 Monaco GP, 1997 Hungarian GP, 1998 Belgian GP, 2001 Brazilian GP & 2003 United States GP)
Pole Positions: 0
Highest Qual: 2nd (1998 Austrian GP & 1999 French GP)
Fastest Laps: 0
Points: 231
Drivers Championships: 0
Constructors Championships: 0
Highests Championship Pos: 4th (2001)
Current Championship Pos: 7th (36 Points)

Recent Championship Positions

2010: 8th (44 Points, 0 Wins)
2005: 8th (20 Points, 0 Wins)

Driver History

Karl Wendlinger (1993-1995)
J-J Lehto (1993-1994)
Andrea De Cesaris (1994)
Heinz Harold Frentzen (1994-1996, 2002-2003)
Jean Chistophe Boullion (1995)
Johnny Herbert (1996-1998)
Nicola Larini (1997)
Gianni Morbidelli (1997)
Norberto Fontana (1997)
Jean Alesi (1998-1999)
Pedro Diniz (1999-2000)
Mika Salo (2000)
Nick Heidfeld (2001-2003, 2010)
Kimi Raikkonen (2001)
Felipe Massa (2002, 2004-2005)
Giancarlo Fisichella (2004)
Jacques Villeneuve (2005)
Pedro De La Rosa (2010-2011)
Kamui Kobayashi (2010-Present)
Sergio Perez (2011-Present)

Engine History

Mercedes (1993-1994)
Ford (1995-1996)
Ferrari (1997-2005, 2010-Present)

Notable Achievements

[Anna]

Italy 2011 - GP Preview - Sauber Ferrari


Team quotes

Friday 2 September 2011 - 12h50, by Olivier Ferret
Endless straights, high speeds, flat wings and an impressive history alongside a lot of passion – that is what Monza is famous for. The Italian Grand Prix, to be held on September 9th to 11th in the Royal Park of Monza near Milan, marks the end of the European season. The Sauber F1 Team wants to continue its positive trend with regard to qualifying performance and both drivers, Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez, are desperate to score points in the race after having been left empty handed at the recent Grand Prix in Belgium.

Kamui Kobayashi: “Monza will be challenging, we have to find the best possible set-up for the car and see how fast we can go on the long straights. Last year we qualified 12th, which wasn’t too bad, because we expected difficulties there. Hopefully the race this year can be better. Last year I didn’t manage to do the race because I had a technical problem, and I retired on my first lap after starting from the pit lane. But this year I am quite confident of doing a good race. I like Monza. I have driven quite a lot there because I did Formula Renault Italia. I have also done GP2, but that wasn’t nice as I remember there was a lot of rain then. Anyway, I like the track and the town, as there are a couple of nice restaurants, it is quite close to Milan and it is always nice to go there as well.”

Sergio Pérez: “I’m very much looking forward to the Italian Grand Prix. The track in Monza is one of my favourites. There I did what I regard as my best race weekend so far. It was in Formula 3 when I qualified 14th and won both races. In 2007 and 2008 I raced there in F3 and then also in GP2. The very long straights in Monza could be tough for us. I want to maintain a good rhythm with positive performances in qualifying and for the start. Then, of course, I want to finish the race and score points for the team. It is my aim to finish the European season on a high. The race weekend there always has a very special atmosphere, and I can’t wait to take part for the first time in the Formula One Grand Prix. I like the people in Italy a lot and, of course, I’m a fan of Italian food.”

James Key, Technical Director: “The Italian Grand Prix in Monza is a unique event for many reasons. First of all it’s a very old and famous circuit with a great deal of motor racing history behind it, and is a place where teams have been going for many years. It also has one of the greatest atmospheres of the year, with huge support from all the fans. Technically it’s by far the lowest drag level circuit of the season. To get the drag down to levels which are optimum you have to reduce downforce, which is why we call it a low downforce track, although fundamentally it’s a low drag track. It’s a mix of long straights with two chicanes. Certainly the first one provides an overtaking opportunity, followed by a whole range of low to high speed corners in sector two – with the Lesmo corners and the Ascari – and then a very tricky corner, the Parabolica at the end of the lap, which is quite critical for carrying as much speed as possible down the pit straight.

“Although the lap is quite simple, it’s quite technical particularly with the downforce level you are running. You need a well balanced car through these corners. It’s also critical for braking, because the top speeds are by far the highest of the year, and you’re braking down to a very low speed for the two chicanes. In addition, the kerbs play their role in these chicanes, although in recent years the amount of kerbs you can use has been limited a bit. So it has a lot of different aspects to it. Overtaking can be expected in two places, although we don’t know yet how effective the DRS will be in such a low downforce setting. The tyres will be the soft and medium compound, as in Spa-Francorchamps. For the car we will have a modified front wing for low downforce settings and a rear wing specific to Monza.”

[Anna]

Sauber Ferrari


The Sauber F1 Team with its drivers, Sergio Pérez and Kamui Kobayashi, enjoyed a very productive first day of free practice at the high-speed circuit of Monza. With very stable weather conditions during the course of the day they did 67 and 66 laps respectively, and came eighth and ninth in the afternoon session. Both drivers familiarised themselves with driving the Sauber C30-Ferrari with a low downforce level, evaluated the two Pirelli tyre compounds (medium and soft) and worked on the race set-up for the Italian Grand Prix. On his very last lap in the second free practice Kobayashi stopped on track due to a transmission problem.

Sergio Pérez: “For me this was a very positive day. Actually it was better than I expected, which is good news. When I was on new soft tyres the track was a bit dirty, so this makes me hope I can improve in qualifying. My car feels well balanced, especially with the soft tyres, and also on long runs.”

Kamui Kobayashi: “Having stable weather and track conditions was very useful today, and enabled us to do proper set-up work in both sessions. For me the car isn’t perfect yet, but I can see that we have the potential to improve the balance and the lap time. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “In the first practice session it was important to us to let the drivers do a good mileage on the medium compound tyres so they can get used to the low downforce level. Of course in the morning we also did the usual systems checks, and started to work on the cars’ set-up. For the second 90 minutes session we obviously had the tyre comparison on the list. Again we did a lot of mileage, and we now feel well prepared for the race. Apart from Kamui having to stop on track with a transmission problem at the end, everything went smoothly today.”

[Anna]

Sauber Ferrari


The Italian Grand Prix had a lot of ups and downs for the Sauber F1 Team. The team compromised its qualifying performance in order to maximise the race performance, and the strategy unfolded brilliantly. Sergio Pérez started from 15th on the harder tyres and his one and only pit stop was still to come when he retired on lap 33 with a gearbox problem. He looked very safe in P7 and was still doing very impressive lap times with his old tyres. However, his retirement wasn’t the first disappointment for the team on race day in Monza: ten laps earlier Kamui Kobayashi had also retired with a gear box problem, and been denied a great chance of scoring points.

Sergio Pérez - DNF: Despite our poor grid positions, we were doing well in the race, but then both of us retired, and that is tough. I started 15th and our race strategy was to do a very long stint on the harder tyres - the medium compound - and in the end only a short stint on the soft tyres. From lap 20 I had been in seventh. I had a gap in front and one behind, so it all looked good, but then first of all I could not use third gear and then after that couldn’t shift in any gear. We missed a great opportunity to score points today.”

Kamui Kobayashi - DNF: “This is, of course, disappointing for everybody. I had no power anymore no matter which gear I selected. Until then it had been quite an exciting and difficult race for me. I had a set of the new harder tyres - the medium compound - for the start and, of course, the plan was to stay out with them for a long time. Sergio proved later that this was possible, but after the accident in turn one, which involved a couple of cars, everybody tried to stop so as not to run into the accident. I touched the car which braked in front of me. Not only did my front wing come lose, but I also damaged a tyre and therefore I had to change to a set of used soft tyres. Because of this our strategy was ruined, but I was still very confident about scoring points today. It is a true shame.”

Peter Sauber, Team Principal: “We deliberately put all our focus on the race, accepting that this would compromise our qualifying performance. Our performance today proved that this approach worked out perfectly. We were faster than our direct competitors. Today it would have been easy to score many points, but both our drivers were stopped by gearbox problems, Kamui on lap 23, and Sergio on lap 33. Sergio drove an excellent race and was safely in seventh at that time, and running on a one stop strategy which was perfect today. In addition, our car was as fast as expected today.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “As expected, our pace in the race was much better than in qualifying, and the strategy was also very good. Sergio was on a one stop strategy, drove very consistently and didn’t suffer on the medium tyres in the beginning. Over 33 laps he set very respectable lap times. He was 15 seconds ahead of the competition, and we were just waiting for them to stop and then do the same. In Kamui’s case we had to bring him in after his first lap incident. We then changed to a two stop strategy, using two sets of the soft tyres, which would also have worked well in his case. Unfortunately the gearbox failures stopped all our efforts.”

[Anna]

Singapore 2011 - GP Preview - Sauber Ferrari


Team quotes

Friday 16 September 2011 - 13h03, by Olivier Ferret
From Monza to Singapore means even more than the difference between day and night. Opposite to what was needed for the Italian high speed track, the spectacular city circuit at the Marina Bay of the Asian metropolis requires a car configuration which secures a lot of downforce for the 23 corners. The circuit doesn’t forgive any driver errors, and the floodlit race on September 25th takes maximum concentration. The Sauber F1 Team and its drivers, Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez, have put the disappointment of the gearbox failures in Monza behind them and want to improve their tally of points during the following rounds in Asia.

Kamui Kobayashi: “Last year we were quite competitive in Singapore. I made it into Q3, which is a nice memory – very different, of course, to the outcome of the race when I was lying ninth, but made a mistake when the tyres were quite worn and crashed. After the European races I’m now looking forward to going to Asia. Singapore has a very special atmosphere, because it is in the city and it is at night. Night racing I must say gives me an extra motivation, and I really enjoy it a lot. I went to Tokyo after the Italian Grand Prix. It is not too far from Singapore and in Tokyo I will make sure I prepare myself to the working hours we have to adopt by going to sleep late and getting up late. The Singapore circuit has many corners, they are all quite similar and all very tricky as well. All in all I’m confident for the weekend, and I really want to achieve a good result because it is the last race before my home grand prix in Suzuka, and good results always give you extra motivation and make you stronger.”

Sergio Pérez: “I believe the Singapore city circuit could be a good one for us. Actually I have not raced there yet, but I did a lot of work in the simulator and, knowing our car, I really hope we can have a positive weekend there. We obviously need to score points to get back our sixth position in the World Championship. I have done some night racing in Qatar when I was in GP2. It is a very special feeling if you live at night and it can also be fun. I will arrive from Zurich, which means I come from the European time zone and then for the night race you actually just stick to that and don’t go onto local time. Regarding the city of Singapore, I only had a quick look around during a stop-over, so I can’t say much about it as this was only a few hours. This time I will make sure I come early enough to discover a bit more about it.”

James Key, Technical Director: “Following Spa-Francorchamps and Monza, which are unique circuits, we go to another unique track in Singapore. It’s a long and windy high downforce street circuit, which is typically quite bumpy. It needs good mechanical grip. Traction levels and braking stability are important as well. It’s a hard circuit for the brakes. We’ll be running a high downforce configuration, and we will be working on the mechanical grip. Pirelli will supply the soft and super soft tyres, the same as in Hungary, and we feel these are generally better tyres for us than what we have had at the last two events. We’ll be looking closely at the balance of the car and its ability to absorb the kerbs and the bumps. We tested some new engine maps in Monza for the first time, and we will develop these further in Singapore. Even with DRS, overtaking will be difficult on this track, so qualifying positions and strategy are going to be important. Last year Kamui was able to make it into Q3. Obviously we are keen to bounce back after the disappointment of not scoring the points we thought were certain in Monza.”

[Anna]

Abu Dhabi 2011 - GP Preview - Sauber Ferrari


Team quotes

Friday 4 November 2011 - 12h55, by Olivier Ferret
While the top places in the FIA Formula One World Championship are already decided, the Sauber F1 Team still needs to pull out all the stops for the final two races. The Swiss team currently lies seventh in the Constructors’ Championship. After the most recent GP in India, Toro Rosso now ranks eighth with an equal number of points, while the sixth-placed team, Force India, has a ten-point lead. This means drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez are both the hunters and hunted – and neither catching up nor defending are easy tasks. A reason for this is because further development of the effective exhaust-blown diffuser on the Sauber C30-Ferrari was halted in the summer, when this controversial technology was banned for a time. Despite the ensuing, increasing disadvantage compared to the competition, the team will continue to give of its best at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from 11th to 13th November 2011 so it can secure the best possible position in the World Championship.

Kamui Kobayashi: “Abu Dhabi is the track where I scored my first three Formula One championship points when I came sixth back in 2009. It was only my second Grand Prix, and for sure I will never forget that. I also like the fact it is a twilight race. This makes it even more exciting for the spectators and also very demanding for us. The challenge doesn’t really come from the changing light, but the track temperature drops significantly when the sun sets. This makes it quite difficult to adapt during the race. I also like the track layout and I think it is an exciting event and race for everybody.”

Sergio Pérez: “I have only the best memories of Abu Dhabi. There last year I had my first Formula One test, which obviously meant a lot to me. Also last year it was there where I competed in GP2 for the last time, and I won the race on Saturday by a good margin of over 20 seconds. Now I’m coming back with almost one year’s experience in F1, and time goes by very quickly. I like the dry heat in the desert and it will be interesting to have the first experience with a race which starts in daylight and finishes in the dark. I am very much looking forward to that event and, as always, I’m absolutely determined to make the most out of it and score as many points as possible.”

James Key, Technical Director: “Abu Dhabi was a memorable race last year when the championship was won there. One factor in that race was overtaking was difficult. That’s something we have to bear in mind this year, although DRS should support overtaking. But certainly it will be an interesting race where the strategy could play a role. We go there with the soft and medium tyres, which is the same combination we had in Suzuka. The track itself has got three very distinct sectors. The first one is a short sector with medium to high speed corners. The second is dominated by a couple of chicanes and two long straights, so there low drag and efficiency are important. The third sector requires high downforce for the slow to medium speed corners. Therefore getting the downforce level right and balance it for this track is an important part of Friday’s work. The car will be the same specification we had in India. We have, however, several new approaches to some of the mechanical set-up, coming off the back of a difficult qualifying in India, where we just couldn’t get the tyres to work. We think Abu Dhabi will be better for this, but nevertheless we looked into this in detail and we will go with some fresh ideas to make sure we’ve got everything covered if tyres are the problem. In the race in India we got back to where we should be competition wise, and we clearly also need to be at that level in qualifying in Abu Dhabi.”

[Anna]

2011 end of term report – Sauber Ferrari


44 points, 7th in the constructors’ championship

Friday 16 December 2011 - 18h22, by Sandrine Bouchard
The Sauber F1 Team had to work hard to clinch seventh place in this year’s constructors’ championship. It was sixth for a long time but lost a place to Force India in the second part of the season.

Season review

In 2011, the Swiss team took a Mexican flavor with the arrival of Sergio Pérez, Esteban Gutierrez and some important Mexican backing.

Sauber had a good race in Australia – both cars scored points – but was disqualified later on for a technical infringement. Its rear wings were deemed illegal and the team lost ten valuable points. It considered appealing the decision but eventually decided to accept it.

During the first part of the season, Kobayashi and Pérez performed strongly. They occasionally qualified in the top ten and regularly scored points. The team looked in good shape at Monaco but saw Sergio Pérez crashing heavily in qualifying. He subsequently withdrew from the event and also missed the Canadian Grand Prix, where he was replaced by Pedro de la Rosa.

Halfway through the season, Sauber was comfortably in sixth place but Force India soon caught up with the Hinwill-based team as it had stopped developing its blown diffuser. This decision cost Sauber 6th place in the championship and almost lost it 7th place.

In Great-Britain – where the use of the blown diffuser was restricted – Sauber scored six points. It proved more difficult afterwards and the team only scored 11 points in the last 10 races… while it had bagged 27 points in the first six races.

Conclusion

Sauber scored in 2011 as many points as it did in 2010, but moved up one place in the standings. Its best result of the year was Kobayashi’s fifth place at Monaco.

Expectations

Kobayashi and Pérez have been confirmed by the team for 2012. The Swiss outfit will be hoping to do better than in 2011 and might benefit from the new technical regulations.

Highs
Scored good points in the first part of the season
Two strong drivers
Stayed ahead of Toro Rosso

Lows
Less competitive in the second half of the season
Disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix
Double retirement at Monza

Nextgen-Auto.com marks:
Olivier Ferret : 12/20
D.Thys : 12/20
Sandrine Bouchard : 12/20
Jean-Michel Setbon : 13/20
Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 12/20
Total : 61/100