Sauber Launches C33 Challenger In Switzerland

Sauber’s new challenger, the C33, is powered by a V6 turbo Ferrari engine, and features an odd looking front end. [Photo courtesy of Sauber]

HINWIL, Switzerland- Following a hugely disappointing season in 2013, the Swiss Sauber team launched it’s 2014 challenger Sunday at their team headquarters near Zurich with the introduction of the C33.

The car in which the C stands for, is named for the wife of owner Peter Sauber, Christianne, and is once again powered by the new V6 turbo engine created by Ferrari. The Italian marquee has been supplying Sauber with their engine ever since the early 2000’s.

The car itself has another odd looking front end to satisfy the regulations that have been enforced for this year’s season. The Swiss unit will be at the first test a Jerez, Spain, this week and chief designer Eric Gandelin is expecting things to be unpredictable because he is not certain of what the other teams will have.

“The radical changes to the technical regulations for 2014 mean that it’s even harder than usual to make predictions for the new season,” Gandelin said. “We know what kind of package we’ve put together here, and we are happy with what we achieved, but it is difficult to foresee what shape our rivals are in.

“The earliest opportunity to gain an impression of where the teams are in relation to one another will come during testing. The path we have followed with the design of the Sauber C33-Ferrari allows us maximum flexibility, so that we can react quickly. It is also clear that reliability will be an important factor in the first few races in particular. So this is an area which we have given very high priority.”

Sauber improved over the end of last season, thanks to the consistency of Nico Hulkenberg, but the German has now departed for Force India and now is replaced by his countryman, Adrian Sutil. Mexican Estaban Gutierrez returns for his second year with the team.

Team Principal Monica Kaltenborn went through a tough time last season, but this year she is being very cautious about what might occur in 2014.

“We have put a very challenging year behind us,” she said. “The first half of 2013 in particular was difficult for us, but the second half saw us making significant strides. We learnt a great deal during this time and will be applying the lessons in the new season.
“Due to the radical changes in the technical regulations [for 2014], predictions are simply impossible to make at this stage. Even more so than in previous years, any impression of how the teams stand against each other will only emerge once winter testing has been completed. That is also when we will announce our goals for the 2014 season. One thing’s for sure: reliability will be of the essence, especially at the beginning of the season.”

For the Sauber team, they have been in the forefront of this sport for many years, but lately things have not worked out for them, and there have been many times where the team financially have been rescued. However, the Swiss team continues to survive and will hopefully improve on their results this upcoming season.

Mark Gero

Mark Gero has written formula one racing stories since 2002 on the Internet for such sites as Motorsport.com, Racing Information Service News and for a brief time at the Munich Eye newspaper in Munich, Germany along with Autoweek online. Mark also has a diploma in journalism from the London School of Journalism in London, England and in addition a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa.

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