The 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship is almost upon us. That means each of the teams will soon be revealing their new chassis for the season ahead, and the latest comes from Sauber.
Though hardly a household name like Ferrari, Mercedes, or Red Bull, Sauber has been on the grid for 25 years now. After challenging for race wins under BMW‘s patronage a decade ago, it’s since fallen off form. The car you see here is the one with which it hopes to emerge from the back of the field to the middle of the pack.
Built to comply with the latest regulations, the Sauber C31 features a completely new aerodynamic package – similar to what we saw yesterday on the new Williams FW40, but with a shark-fin upright wing extending from the engine cover in similar fashion to the latest Le Mans prototypes.
That could, in part, be the work of the team’s new technical director Jörg Zander, who came to Sauber after Audi shut down its endurance racing program. The C31 also sports a striking blue, white, and gold livery that’s still sadly light on sponsorship logos. The team has, however, secured its future with fresh investment from Longbow Finance.
Underneath it all sits a powertrain sourced from Ferrari – a 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 hybrid system, just like every other team. Only Sauber has opted to stick with last year’s engine rather than switch to a newer one, in order to move development along sooner.
Driving the new C31 will be Mercedes prodigy Pascal Wehrlein (who switches over from the stranded Manor team), joined once again by Marcus Ericsson (who similarly moved over from the defunct Caterham team a few years ago).
With a filming day scheduled for later this week and the first test session of the season to follow early the next, we can expect to see more teams showcasing their new chassis in the coming days. So watch this space.
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