GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => F1 Teams => Topic started by: cosworth151 on January 27, 2014, 01:40:13 PM
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Sauber has unveiled its 2014 contender, the C33. As previously, the car uses a Ferrari power unit and gearbox. Sadly, it suffers from the dreaded "blank flanks," i.e. very few sponsor names on the sides.
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140126/f1/140129840#ixzz2rbcwD55N
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Nice big area for the driver number though Cos.
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Monisha K. says there is no guarantee the team will be competitive this year, as their limited budget meant they had to take some guesses in the design that might not work as planned.
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That is a shame that Sauber is not optimistic about the season, even before the start of testing. I think she is being realistic, and after the horrendous start of the last year, I think she opted for a conservative approach about cars performance.
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Monisha K. says there is no guarantee the team will be competitive this year, as their limited budget meant they had to take some guesses in the design that might not work as planned.
I think most of the teams have had to take guesses, whether they are well funded or not, so that seems to be a bit of a cop out from Monisha.
No one ever got to the top step in F1 because people felt sorry for them. :D
Chance your arm - and a lot more besides - has always been the F1 way. ;)
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Monisha K. says there is no guarantee the team will be competitive this year, as their limited budget meant they had to take some guesses in the design that might not work as planned.
I think most of the teams have had to take guesses, whether they are well funded or not, so that seems to be a bit of a cop out from Monisha.
No one ever got to the top step in F1 because people felt sorry for them. :D
Chance your arm - and a lot more besides - has always been the F1 way. ;)
Well, some teams can afford to test out several configurations.. hedge their bets.
Running an F1 team is as much a PR exercise as an engineering one. Sauber must figure that there's money in setting low expectations. Not sure how that works, but I don't own an F1 team either.
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I hope Sauber has something up their sleeve, but they don't want everyone peering over to see what it is. They've surprised before, you just never know.
The blank flanks are unsettling though, I wish a local bank or pharma company would pick up their tab.
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I think most of the teams have had to take guesses, whether they are well funded or not, so that seems to be a bit of a cop out from Monisha.
No one ever got to the top step in F1 because people felt sorry for them. :D
Chance your arm - and a lot more besides - has always been the F1 way. ;)
It's not a cop out in my view.
A midfield team like Sauber doesn't have the finances to take risks. If they take the risks and they don't pay off it can spell the end for the team. Only the top teams can take massive gambles, because they have the financial resources to rescue themselves in subsequent seasons if they suffer a total disaster.
The new Sauber looks like a fairly conservative car, but perhaps they'll be able to use that to pick up points through better reliability, assuming the top teams are going to push the boundaries more.
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Sauber has always been a midfield team, and under Peter Sauber's direction, they took risks in car design at least as often as any of the big teams.
If Sauber is run like most Swiss companies, it is on a very solid financial base, with a relatively conservative amount of play money, so to speak. So they can take risks without risking the company. If Sauber ever finds itself in real trouble, you will see it withdraw from F1, but back out into another less costly series. I seriously doubt you will ever see Sauber go bankrupt.
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Sauber has always been a midfield team, and under Peter Sauber's direction, they took risks in car design at least as often as any of the big teams.
I can't think of many examples of Sauber pushing the boat out on car design (that's not a criticism). Are there any specific examples that you have in mind?