Sauber Launch C33

Sauber are the latest team to launch their 2014 car, the Sauber C33.

Although the online launch was schedueled for 3pm GMT, Sauber put images of the C33 on their website two hours early, giving everyone a sneak peak at their challenger.

Sauber are the sixth team to show off their latest machines; after Force India, Williams, McLaren, Lotus and Ferrari. You can see them here.

“In Jerez we’ll be having our roll-out, and that’s always a very special moment,” Team Principal Monisha Kaltenborn said on Sauber’s YouTube channel. “First of all, we’ll see if everything really fits together and if the car is running well. It also tells us if we have been working in the right direction for the last nine months. So, all this together makes this a very emotional moment. 

“Due to the big changes on the chassis side, but mainly on the drive train side, it is practically impossible to give any indication on our competitiveness. We can do that at the earliest after the winter test, particularly after we have seen where we stand in relation to our competitors. As always, it’s going to be our goal to improve our position in the Championship.

“This year we have a very exciting driver line-up,” Kaltenborn continued. “On one side we have Adrian, a very experienced race driver and I’m happy that we finally had the opportunity to work together. On the other side we have Esteban, a talented race driver, who we know since many years and has also been a member of the team and this is very valuable given the changes that are coming in this season. 

“I hope that the drivers come to know the car very quickly, that we have all our reliability issues sorted out, so that together with the drivers we can work on the performance and development of the car”. 

Esteban Gutierrez, who joined Sauber as Sergio Perez’s replacement in 2013, said, “I’m really excited about the start – it’s pretty much an adventure with a new car and new regulations. I think this will make things very interesting so it brings everything for the entire team to an even  higher level. There is a lot of work to figure out how everything translates best, but ultimately it’s exactly what we love.

” I am now in the second year as a Formula 1 driver, and many new things to come to us. It will be important that I bring myself into the team, so that we can achieve our common goals.As a driver, I would like to take the next step. My approach is certainly different now than before.”

Adrian Sutil, who has moved from Force India to Sauber for 2014, said, “It’s a new season with new rules, and the car looks a bit different and will also be likely to drive very differently.We will now soon find out what it’s like and I am of course looking forward to it. There is a lot of work and assess quite difficult for us, as it will be. But I just think that it is a step in the right direction.

“I think it is important to have a goal before you start the season. My best season was 2011 with ninth place. It would be nice if I could beat that, or at least perform as well as I did in 2011. But otherwise we will give our best and see what happens.”

The new cars (with the exception of Lotus and McLaren) will roll out at the Circuit de Jerez on Tuesday. Teams such as Red Bull and Force India will pull the covers off their cars for the first time shortly before the first of three pre-season tests begin.

Image courtesy Sauber F1 Team.

Day Five: Sauber

On the fifth day of Christmas, Ben Sweeney gave to me… Sauber

Drivers: Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez
Championship Standings: 7th
Highest Finish: 4th (Hulkenberg, Korea)

Sauber were yet another team raising eyebrows pre-season. Nico Hulkenberg’s move from Force India to Sauber was met with a mixed reaction and was seen by many as a sideways step, at best. The other Sauber was occupied by rookie Esteban Gutierrez whose appointment was questioned, especially following the Mexican’s comments in which he said he didn’t feel he was ready for F1. However, it was thought that one of Sauber’s sponsors, Telmex, demanded a Mexican driver as part of the deal. With Sergio Perez off to McLaren, this left Sauber scrambling for a Mexican replacement for fear they would lose their sponsorship and thus hired Gutierrez.

Onwards to Australia and already Sauber were in trouble. Gutierrez suffered a tank slapping crash during Qualifying and on race day Hulkenberg suffered a fuel leak in his C32 and the team opted not to run the German on safety grounds. The sole remaining Sauber finished the race in a respectable 13th place for Esteban’s debut Grand Prix. He finished one place higher in Malaysia when he took 12th as opposed to Hulkenberg’s point scoring eighth place.

During Qualifying ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, Gutierrez suffered a blow when he was knocked out of the session in Q1, qualifying eighteenth while Hulkenberg ran circles around the rookie and qualified tenth. Any hopes of a race recovery were thrown out the window almost immediately when Gutierrez rear-ended Adrian Sutil’s Force India and took both of them out of the race. Hulkenberg went on to lead the race during the pit stops, eventually finishing in tenth to scrape the final points finish.

After China, Sutil really wasn’t impressed when he found himself stuck behind Hulkenberg for most of the race in Bahrain, Nico finishing 12th while Gutierrez qualified and finished in 18th. Role reversal in Spain saw Gutierrez the higher placing Sauber when he finished eleventh and just shy of the points, following a strong race recovery, starting in nineteenth following a three-place penalty for blocking Kimi Raikkonen. Hulkenberg had a less impressive race and finished fifteenth. Gutierrez again dropped out in nineteenth and finished thirteenth in Monaco while Hulkenberg started and finished eleventh.

The Canadian Grand Prix was a very unfortunate race for Sauber. Firstly, Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde made contact with Hulkenberg and the resulting damage saw Nico drop from the race. Then, Gutierrez exited the pits were mere laps left in the race but he slid off the track and into the wall at turn 2 in a bizarre incident. When the stricken car was removed, a 38-year-old marshall was involved in an accident with the recovery vehicle removing the Sauber and later succumbed to his injuries.

In Silverstone, Gutierrez was one of the victims of the Pirelli blow-outs but finished fourteenth, while Hulkenberg grabbed the final point on offer when he finished tenth. Between the British and German rounds, rumours arose that Hulkenberg hadn’t been paid since May due to financial trouble at Sauber. It was thought that he could refuse to race as his contract with the team had been broken. Regardless, he took part in the race and finished tenth again. Gutierrez kept Red Bull’s Mark Webber at bay for part of the race before finishing fourteenth, in an identical finish to the team’s British GP result.

Gutierrez suffered engine issues ahead of Qualifying at Hungary and dropped from Q1 before going on to retire in the race due to a transmission failure. Hulkenberg was on track for another points finish before being penalized for speeding in the pitlane and finishing fifteenth.

Coming back from the summer break, Gutierrez was involved in the Sutil, Maldonado and di Resta crash, but escaped without damage en route to fourteenth, while Hulkenberg dropped from eleventh to thirteenth.  In Italy two weeks later, Hulkenberg was impressive en route to fifth ahead of Nico Rosberg, who he held off for the latter part of the race. Gutierrez was further down the order in thirteenth.

He finished one better in Singapore when he raced to twelfth while Hulkenberg again finished in the points with a ninth place. Korea was Hulkenberg’s stand-out race of the season when he fended off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for the bulk of the race, eventually placing fourth. Gutierrez narrowly missed out on his first F1 points when he finished eleventh.

Esteban finally broke into the points at the Japanese Grand Prix by finishing seventh right behind team-mate Hulkenberg who was sixth. It was a particularly impressive performance from Esteban who lined up fourteenth on the grid. Unfortunately though, the Mexican was back to normal at the next race in India when he crossed the line fifteenth. Nico dropped from the race with brakes issues but completed more than 90% of the race and so was classified nineteenth.

Hulkenberg had a strong qualifying in Abu Dhabi to line up sixth, but a drive-through penalty as the result of an unsafe release during his first pitstop demoted him to fourteenth in the race. Gutierrez, for the second time in his career, out-raced Nico – finishing thirteenth.

Gutierrez was handed a ten-place grid penalty for dangerously swerving on track in front of Williams’ Pastor Maldonado who had to take precautionary action to avoid a collision, during Qualifying for the Austin Grand Prix. Starting twentieth, he finished thirteenth, after being t-boned and spun by Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne on the final lap. Hulkenberg was back in the points when he finished sixth.

And so to the final race of the season where Hulkenberg qualified tenth and Hulkenberg eighteenth. Hulkenberg moved up two places mid-race to finish eighth, while Gutierrez moved up five to twelfth.

The much talked about financial issues for the Swiss team approaching the summer break were very much forgotten for the second part of the season, when Nico Hulkenberg, hell-bent on impressing for a seat higher up the grid, but in truly incredible performances. He was eventually outshone by Pastor Maldonado’s $17 million sponsorship which leaves him returning to his old home Force India. Gutierrez, with only one points finish, could be out of the job next year with the likes of Sergio Perez and possible Adrian Sutil all looking to the team for a drive in 2014.

Photo courtesy Sauber F1 Team.

Vergne Handed Post-Race Penalty For Gutierrez Clash

Jean-Eric Vergne has been awarded a post-race penalty at the United States Grand Prix.

The checkered flag had flown but Esteban Gutierrez and Vergne were still scrapping for 12th when the two made contact. Gutierrez was sent off track, rejoining in sixteenth while Vergne crossed the line twelfth. However, Stewards deemed Vergne to be at fault and handed him the post-race equivalent of a drive-through penalty – twenty seconds added to his race time.

This additional time means that he will instead finish sixteenth, right behind Gutierrez who moves up to fifteenth.

To see the full race report, click here.

Sauber Happy With Korean Performance

Both Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez are leaving Korea happy with their race performance.

Nico Hulkenberg put in a stunning drive, fending fourth from Lewis Hamilton for the later part of the race, while Esteban Gutierrez finished eleventh but was happy with the experience.

“Today I drove one of the best races in my career so far,” Hulkenberg said. “I have had cars in the mirrors before, but today there were a lot and it was a bit annoying. Lewis really put the pressure on at the end, especially in the last sector. I knew I needed to get out of Turn 1 well.

“The car’s traction was very good today, so that kept me alive against Fernando and then Lewis later on. We were also very fast on the straight. I had a good start, although on the outside into Turn 1, which was a loss at first, but then I had a real good slip stream and was able to get past on the outside. A big thank you to the entire team for providing such an excellent car today.”

In the other Sauber, Gutierrez said, “I had a very good start, then I arrived at Turn 3 and saw what was going on. I tried to protect my position, my rears locked and that’s why I lost a couple of positions. To recover from that was quite a challenge. I had some good fights with Massa and Checo (Perez) coming from the back. Of course, I wanted to score points today, but this is racing. It’s a great experience and will help me to improve my race craft. We had good pace today and are definitely able to fight in the top ten.”

Mid-Season Report: Sauber

Drivers: Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez
Championship Standings: 8th
Highest Finish: 8th 

Sauber were yet another team raising eyebrows pre-season. Nico Hulkenberg’s move from Force India to Sauber was met with a mixed reaction and was seen by many as a sideways step, at best. The other Sauber was occupied by rookie Esteban Gutierrez whose appointment was questioned, especially following the Mexican’s comments in which he said he didn’t feel he was ready for F1. However, it was thought that one of Sauber’s sponsors, Telmex, demanded a Mexican driver as part of the deal. With Sergio Perez off to McLaren, this left Sauber scrambling for a Mexican replacement for fear they would lose their sponsorship and thus hired Gutierrez.

Onwards to Australia and already Sauber were in trouble. Gutierrez suffered a tank slapping crash during Qualifying and on race day Hulkenberg suffered a fuel leak in his C32 and the team opted not to run the German on safety grounds. The sole remaining Sauber finished the race in a respectable 13th place for Esteban’s debut Grand Prix. He finished one place higher in Malaysia when he took 12th as opposed to Hulkenberg’s point scoring eighth place.

During Qualifying ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, Gutierrez suffered a blow when he was knocked out of the session in Q1, qualifying eighteenth while Hulkenberg ran circles around the rookie and qualified tenth. Any hopes of a race recovery were thrown out the window almost immeadietly when Gutierrez rear-ended Adrian Sutil’s Force India and took both of them out of the race. Hulkenberg went on to lead the race during the pit stops, eventually finishing in tenth to scrape the final points finish.

After China, Sutil really wasn’t impressed when he found himself stuck behind Hulkenberg for most of the race in Bahrain, Nico finishing 12th while Gutierrez qualified and finished in 18th. Role reversal in Spain saw Gutierrez the higher placing Sauber when he finished eleventh and just shy of the points, following a strong race recovery, starting in nineteenth following a three-place penalty for blocking Kimi Raikkonen. Hulkenberg had a less impressive race and finished fifteenth. Gutierrez again dropped out in nineteenth and finished thirteenth in Monaco while Hulkenberg started and finished eleventh.

The Canadian Grand Prix was a very unfortunate race for Sauber. Firstly, Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde made contact with Hulkenberg and the resulting damage saw Nico drop from the race. Then, Gutierrez exited the pits were mere laps left in the race but he slid off the track and into the wall at turn 2 in a bizarre incident. When the stricken car was removed, a 38-year-old marshall was involved in an accident with the recovery vehicle removing the Sauber and later succumbed to his injuries.

In Silverstone, Gutierrez was one of the victims of the Pirelli blow-outs but finished fourteenth, while Hulkenberg grabbed the final point on offer when he finished tenth. Between the British and German rounds, rumours arose that Hulkenberg hadn’t been paid since May due to financial trouble at Sauber. It was thought that he could refuse to race as his contract with the team had been broken. Regardless, he took part in the race and finished tenth again. Gutierrez kept Red Bull’s Mark Webber at bay for part of the race before finishing fourteenth, in an identical finish to the team’s British GP result.

Gutierrez suffered engine issues ahead of Qualifying at Hungary and dropped from Q1 before going on to retire in the race due to a transmission failure. Hulkenberg was on track for another points finish before being penalized for speeding in the pitlane and finishing fifteenth.

With financial problems still blighting the Swiss outfit, the talk is that they may fail to take their place on the grid in Belgium in four weeks. Watch this space…

Three Drivers Called For Anti-Doping Test

Stewards at the German Grand Prix called three drivers to an anti-doping test after Qualifying this afternoon.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez and Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde were the three drivers randomly selected to appear at the test – and all three have passed.

It’s the first anti-doping test since Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez were targeted in early morning surprise tests by the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) in March.

While anti-doping tests aren’t common in F1, they aren’t completely unheard of. Nico Rosberg, driving for Williams at the time,  was targeted by WADA while holidaying in Ibiza in 2009.

The drug tests may be a spin off from Mark Webber’s comments to the FIA, calling for a stricter and more regular anti-doping system within F1 after MotoGP rider Anthony West was banned from MotoGP for a month having tested positive to Methylhexaneamine, a stimulant.

Massa and Gutierrez Penalized

Felipe Massa and Esteban Gutierrez have each been handed a three place grid penalty ahead of this Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Gutierrez slowed down in front of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen in the chicane in sector 3 during Q2 and cost the Finn some time, although he still easily advanced to the Q3 session.

Felipe Massa got unlucky as a faster Mark Webber came up behind him on the long sweeping right corner before the chicane. The Brazilian’s efforts to move out of the way made things worse and Webber was forced to take the wide line on the corner, on all the discarded Pirelli fragments.

Both Massa and Gutierrez were penalized three places so tomorrow’s grid will look like this –

1. Nico Rosberg
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Sebastian Vettel
4. Kimi Raikkonen
5. Fernando Alonso
6. Romain Grosjean
7. Mark Webber
8. Sergio Perez
9. Felipe Massa
10. Paul di Resta
11. Daniel Ricciardo
12. Jean-Eric Vergne
13. Adrian Sutil
14. Jenson Button
15. Nico Hulkenberg
16. Valtteri Bottas
17. Pastor Maldonado
18. Giedo van der Garde
19. Esteban Gutierrez
20. Jules Bianchi
21. Max Chilton
22. Charles Pic

Gutierrez Penalised For Sutil Crash

Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez has been handed a five-place grid penalty for next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Mexican smashed straight into the rear of Adrian Sutil’s Force India in the early stages of the race when he out-braked himself. Gutierrez retired on the spot while Sutil limped back to the pitlane to see if his mechanics could help get him back out on track.

Yet, a broken rear wing, damaged under side and then a fire beside the right rear wheel saw the German call it a day for the second race in a row.

Eight other drivers have investigations on going, including Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen, for using DRS under yellow flags which were out as a result of the crash.