Sauber F1 Team 2015

[bill shoe]

Tip of the hat to all of Sauber's rank and file Engineers, managers, mechanics, etc. for coming up with a very solid car over the winter. It's a success story that deserves recognition. The color scheme looks great, and it's nice to see sponsors on the sidepods for a change.

Sauber can't afford any development this year, but quite frankly I don't see any of their relevant competitors being able to pay for development either. I see a possibility for Sauber finishing 2015 as high as 5th in Constructors' behind only Merc, RB, Ferrari, Williams.

[C29]

Seems the matter has now been settled. It will be interesting to see more details and stories about this mess trickle out over the coming months. I still don't think the full truth is known by the majority of us. Sauber will undoubtedly keep their lips sealed and consider the matter closed, with no further comment.

In some ways it'll be good for the team to move on from this and not have the constant distraction. I'm worried what this might have done to the team's reputation though. It may hurt it significantly. OTOH, F1 being the dog-eat-dog business that it is and Sauber usually having been the 'nice honest little boy' of the field, maybe this pushes Sauber into a different level. Sometimes in life you have to do sh*tty things to get some street cred...

They got a bit lucky with their results in Oz, considering all the strong cars that were missing and dropped out from the race. Mind you last year they had little to no luck in races like this, so maybe it was their time. It sure was nice watching that blue car and red helmet drive around. Perhaps just a coincidence, but those colours really stuck out on tv.

Sounds like Sauber may have had to use much (if not all) of their 2014 prize money to pay off VDG, so development might be tight this year and it may be another survival year for them, although it also sounds like it may turn out that the money they got from Ericsson is still more than what they paid VDG, so maybe they're still ahead? A few more results like Oz though, and their 2015 prize money could be a lot better. I'm happiest for the little guys (and gals) in the team that haven't had a race result like this for more than a year!

[FW17]

I would say 6 or 7th as Lotus and McLaren will get some sold runs in

[Phil]

I'm actually not that worried about McLaren (yet) - but I do think the Mercedes powered teams will be hard to beat, and of those, there are a few in the midfield. That being Lotus (who qualified very high despite their low running) and ForceIndia who has two good drivers. Those are 4 cars. I also expect Williams to be ahead of this pack, in close competition with Ferrari. That could technically push Sauber outside the top 10. But yes, once and if McLaren sorts its problems, I think they could be right behind Ferrari & Williams and RedBull... That's the best I see them progressing this year though.

Sauber.... well... now's the time to score points, as much as they can. I think Australia they were quite lucky - wasn't Nasr involved somewhat in the start chaos? Good that he didn't have any damage on his car. I really hope they can get a solid result in Malaysia.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Tip of the hat to all of Sauber's rank and file Engineers, managers, mechanics, etc. for coming up with a very solid car over the winter. It's a success story that deserves recognition. The color scheme looks great, and it's nice to see sponsors on the sidepods for a change.

Sauber can't afford any development this year, but quite frankly I don't see any of their relevant competitors being able to pay for development either. I see a possibility for Sauber finishing 2015 as high as 5th in Constructors' behind only Merc, RB, Ferrari, Williams.

I remember a lot of members here, conveniently regarding Sauber's Winter Testing form as a gimmick to get some sponsors. Although, the major contributor is the rejuvenated Ferrari PU, it must be said that, that Sauber really performed well in the race.

[Richard]

To be fair to the naysayers, in previous years Sauber have often been near the top of the time sheets in winter testing but ended up midfield when the season starts. The inverse of Red Bull who habitually hid their pace until the season started.

[Moose]

Tip of the hat to all of Sauber's rank and file Engineers, managers, mechanics, etc. for coming up with a very solid car over the winter. It's a success story that deserves recognition. The color scheme looks great, and it's nice to see sponsors on the sidepods for a change.

Sauber can't afford any development this year, but quite frankly I don't see any of their relevant competitors being able to pay for development either. I see a possibility for Sauber finishing 2015 as high as 5th in Constructors' behind only Merc, RB, Ferrari, Williams.

I remember a lot of members here, conveniently regarding Sauber's Winter Testing form as a gimmick to get some sponsors. Although, the major contributor is the rejuvenated Ferrari PU, it must be said that, that Sauber really performed well in the race.

As far as I can see, Sauber are the 4th to 5th fastest team. That is very far from their winter testing gimmick running getting first every day.

[Hail22]

We can all let go of GVD now, he has posted on twitter his new ride for 2015 (insert light humor for all).


Official / joking tweet from GVD:
https://twitter.com/GvanderGarde/status ... 1091461120

[Manoah2u]

can this finally stop? he isn't a driver of Sauber nor is he affliated anymore.

[C29]

As far as I can see, Sauber are the 4th to 5th fastest team. That is very far from their winter testing gimmick running getting first every day.

Gimmick? Every day? 4th or 5th fastest is probably what they were averaging during testing, save for a single day. Lots of other teams had fastest times too...

[Moose]

As far as I can see, Sauber are the 4th to 5th fastest team. That is very far from their winter testing gimmick running getting first every day.

Gimmick? Every day? 4th or 5th fastest is probably what they were averaging during testing, save for a single day. Lots of other teams had fastest times too...

No, they averaged 1.75th (2nd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd) over the first test, which is when everyone was accusing them of running a gimmick to attract sponsors.

Over the course of all of testing they averaged p3.5, which is also higher than their actual final position.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

As far as I can see, Sauber are the 4th to 5th fastest team. That is very far from their winter testing gimmick running getting first every day.

Gimmick? Every day? 4th or 5th fastest is probably what they were averaging during testing, save for a single day. Lots of other teams had fastest times too...

No, they averaged 1.75th (2nd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd) over the first test, which is when everyone was accusing them of running a gimmick to attract sponsors.

Over the course of all of testing they averaged p3.5, which is also higher than their actual final position.

Did anyone, including Sauber, claimed they are going for wins or podiums? Their winter testing form was an evidence that they have moved forward and Ferrari PU has played a big part in that. That was the only fact that is being highlighted, not that they would win a championship or even gain a podium.

[Phil]

As far as I can see, Sauber are the 4th to 5th fastest team. That is very far from their winter testing gimmick running getting first every day.

I'd be very happy if this were the case, however, I think 4th to 5th fastest team is a bit of a stretch.

You have Mercedes on the top, followed by Ferrari and Williams. Then I wouldn't discount RedBull by any chance. They might have struggled, but they'll sort their problems. Then you have Torro Rosso who is very close to RedBulls current form. Even if the Renault engined teams are facing problems at the moment, you also have Lotus, who now is running Mercedes power and have both qualified ahead of Sauber in Australia. That would push Sauber outside the top 5, if not to the top 7 depending on how strong (or not) Torro-Rosso and RedBull are.

Sauber was very fortunate in Australia. They benefited from both Lotus dropping out, RedBull having big time problems (at least with one that did not start) as well as Torro-Rosso with issues. The Ferrari engine has made big improvements, which is great, but Sauber is still running on fumes. They could very well be pushed back outside the points again if Lotus start performing, we have less DNFs at the top-teams (RedBull) and Force-India with two top drivers start being consistant.

[Moose]

Did anyone, including Sauber, claimed they are going for wins or podiums? Their winter testing form was an evidence that they have moved forward and Ferrari PU has played a big part in that. That was the only fact that is being highlighted, not that they would win a championship or even gain a podium.

Yes, lots of people were getting very excited, and claiming that Sauber had a very fast car - "just look at their testing times, they're fastest or second fastest every day". The people claiming that this was just them doing advertising runs for sponsors were absolutely correct. They absolutely were running light fuel tanks to show impressive times that weren't reflective of their true position.

And yes, as Phil points out, sauber being 4th or 5th fastest may well be overly generous. When the dust settles we may yet discover that they're slower than RBR and TR, and maybe even Lotus. That would make them faster only than McLaren with big problems and Manor. That would not exactly make this an exciting move forward.

[Miguel]

As far as I can see, Sauber are the 4th to 5th fastest team. That is very far from their winter testing gimmick running getting first every day.

Gimmick? Every day? 4th or 5th fastest is probably what they were averaging during testing, save for a single day. Lots of other teams had fastest times too...

No, they averaged 1.75th (2nd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd) over the first test, which is when everyone was accusing them of running a gimmick to attract sponsors.

Over the course of all of testing they averaged p3.5, which is also higher than their actual final position.

It's not once you take into account teams test with only one car each. Okay, they possibly ran lighter than average in testing for sponsors, but not disgracefully so: this car is far from the disaster last year's car was.

BTW and offtopic: last year's sauber and lotus being fundamentally bad, plus 2013's williams also being flawed from the start make most engine comparisons based on average/cherripicked WCC positions in '13 and '14 not really trustworthy.