Formula 1

Sauber To Bring ‘Significant Update’ To Barcelona

2 Mins read

The Sauber team are particularly excited about the Spanish Grand Prix next weekend as they will be introducing what they call a ‘significant’ aero package on their C30.

Technical Director James Key explains that it their are substantial new parts being added to the car, and he expects the upgrade to shave tenths of seconds off their lap times in Barcelona.

“We'll have a new, quite significant aero package on the car, which will be a completely new front wing, updates to the front and rear brake ducts, new bodywork, new devices around the floor leading edge and under the chassis, and we'll be testing the new exhaust system again,” Key explains. “We'll also be continuing our work on the mechanical update we had in Istanbul, which proved to be positive.

“It will be interesting to see how this works. If it works well it should give us a good few tenths of a second improvement in lap time.  Our goal is to continue our good race form, to try to improve qualifying and finish as high in the points as possible.”

The Sauber man also expects that the C30 will suit the characteristics of the Circuit de Catalunya: “Barcelona is a relatively high speed track, so one which should be quite reasonable for our car. After the race performance in Istanbul that could be good for us, but we need to improve our qualifying performance.”

As Kamui Kobayashi points out, Barcelona is like a second home to all teams and all drivers thanks to the amount of testing everybody does there. He also expects Sauber to go well there, and hopes that the DRS will provide plenty of overtaking, a rare spectacle in previous years.

“Every team and driver knows the circuit in Barcelona extremely well from winter testing,” he points out. “Our car seemed to be good there in February and March. For the next Grand Prix weekend it will be important to focus on the set-up of our car with the new parts, and we will have to make sure the update results in an improvement in qualifying and the race.

“In the past overtaking was particularly difficult on that circuit, but I believe the Drag Reduction System will help to make it an exciting Grand Prix. I feel very much at home using the adjustable rear wing. I'm happy with the system and I think it will be a real benefit for the Spanish Grand Prix's audience.”

Team-mate Sergio Perez is hoping for a change in fortunes as F1 heads to Spain. “I'm looking forward to the weekend in Barcelona very much,” says the Mexican rookie. “I have been quite unlucky in the previous races and I really have the feeling the Spanish Grand Prix is when this will change. I strongly believe I will score points there.

“I am very motivated and I like the Barcelona circuit a lot. Also I always did well there. In Turkey we weren't able to show our potential and I hope this changes in Spain and, to begin with, we are better in qualifying. We will bring an update for the car and I trust it will meet our expectations.”

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David is an occasional contributer to the site on matters related to Formula 1. You can follow him on twitter at @Dr_Bean.
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