Sauber's Preparations for 2004 are Underway

By Jamie Makin (25/11/03)
November 25 2003

The test ban has lifted and Giancarlo Fisichella will take the wheel of the Sauber C22 at Barcelona today in preparation for a demanding 2004 season. But while this appears to be the first glimpse of the team's preparations for 2004, work has been going on behind the scenes for some time.

Team Sauber-Petronas has been hard at work on two concurrent projects this year. The design of the new C23 racecar began several months ago, and it will be unveiled to the public on January 12, 2004.

Meanwhile, track testing of parts for the car actually began at the Monza circuit in early September when completely new aerodynamic parts were tested. Although these new parts were successfully used on the C22 in races at Indianapolis and Suzuka, the team's ultimate goal was to study their effectiveness for the upcoming C23.

Testing with the C22 will resume this week at Barcelona, and will concentrate on tire development and most likely other parts destined for the C23. Two other Bridgestone teams, Ferrari and BAR, will also be present for the test.

The other key project at Sauber is the completion of a new wind tunnel next to their Hinwil factory. Construction on this state-of-the-art wind tunnel began over two years ago, and is finally nearing completion. It will be the largest F1 wind tunnel in use, and is capable of testing full-scale vehicles up to the size of a passenger van. It will be the only tunnel capable of positioning two 60% size F1 car models one in front of the other, to study the effects of turbulence coming off the lead car. The rolling road will be able to rotate 10 degrees in either direction to simulate lateral loading, and wind velocity can reach up to 300kph. The tunnel should be operational in mid-February, which will allow the team the opportunity to make last minute improvements to the C23 before its first race in March.

While work continues on the car and the wind tunnel, new Sauber teammates Giancarlo Fisichella and Felipe Massa were given a workout at a fitness camp last week to ensure their readiness for the upcoming season. Winter testing will allow the drivers to become familiar with the car and the team. Fisichella will do his first test in Barcelona this week. Massa will take over testing duties in two week's time at Jerez. The Spanish tracks are favorite winter testing locations for team over the winter break because of their warmer climate.

The 2004 championship is expected to be a particularly challenging one for the team. Sauber is one of only three remaining independent teams going up against seven large automakers.

"Our objectives are to significantly improve our performance," Peter Sauber said in an interview with f1racing.net. "How well we do [in 2004], to a large extent, really depends on how quick we can implement the results from our new wind tunnel on the track."

The other factor that will greatly affect the Sauber's performance is tires. While Bridgestone dominated the 2002 season, Michelin gained a lot of ground in 2003 and even surpassed many of the Bridgestone teams. For 2004, Sauber will collaborate more closely with Bridgestone (and Ferrari) in developing tires that aim to bring the team better results.

Only time will tell the results of this hard work, but when the car takes to the track later today it will be one more step in the right direction.