Sauber show off the new C37
- Published on 20 Feb 2018 12:18
-
- By: Fergal Walsh
Sauber has officially launched its 2018 car, the C37. Sauber enters 2018 in partnership with Alfa Romeo, who is the team's title sponsor for the season. At the launch of the Alfa Romeo Sauber deal last year, a concept livery of red and white was showcased, which has been adopted for the year ahead.
One noticeable change on the car is the front wing. The nose has nostrils, with a layer of carbon fibre underneath. This differs to its nose of 2017, which simply had two slots with no underlying bodywork. The car also wears the mandatory halo, which has been painted white.
Sauber struggled throughout the 2017 season, finishing tenth overall in the standings. It scored points on just two occasions - at the Grands Prix of Spain and Azerbaijan. It was powered by 2016 Ferrari engines, which contributed massively to its back-of-the-field struggles.
Originally, Sauber was scheduled to be powered by Honda for the upcoming season. However, when Frederic Vasseur was brought in as team principal, replacing Monisha Kaltenborn, he immediately cancelled the deal with Honda, and re-negotiated with Ferrari.
Sauber will return to up-to-date Ferrari power units this year. The Hinwil squad has also retained Marcus Ericsson for a fourth season. He will be joined by 2017 Formula 2 champion Charles Leclerc, who will make his F1 debut in Australia next month.
Fergal Walsh
2
Replies (7)
Login to replyKean
Posts: 692
I like it! Like the livery, the livery was expected though after they made the announcement a while back regarding the Alfa partnership. But Sauber is the first car where you can see big aero differences compared to last year, the nose, the chopped of shark fin contains something I interpret as an aero solution, of course the halo has an aero solution, but most prominently the sidepods; where they’ve been inspired by Ferrari’s solution with an intake “on top”, and a lot smaller intakes on the bottom. I really hope they’ve got it right.
blade
Posts: 341
I like it a lot - very smart and will look wicked at speed too. Hoping for a good yr for Sauber, Vasseur seems to be doing a great job so early into this role.
Rardon
Posts: 4
Do I spot an aerodynamic addition to the halo? And is that allowed? But.. the car is beautiful (as it was last year), hopefully it will preform better.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
AFAIK its not against the rules.
FatMike
Posts: 153
The titanium tube that is the Halo is a standard. Teams have certain freedom to add aero components around it to suit their aero package
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Really like it. Glad they retained this design.
talktohenry
Posts: 362
Great to see AR back and more to come now with the new rules. Car is gorgeous.