Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 C37

[falonso81]

Really happy about Sauber this year. They seem to keep adding good upgrades and the car picks up pace.
Sad about today's mistake, it would have been a 7th place finish for Lec.

[f1316]

So Sauber qualifying 9th at Silverstone! What are we missing on this car? Both riders catching points this year. Is it the extra money from Alfa Romeo that gave them the extra funds to get this result? For me it's together with HAAS one the most impressive teams this year

...clear chassis design direction from former Audi Le Mans/WEC technical director...

I presume you mean Zander but he’s been gone since May - do you think his influence is still being felt?

That’s a genuine question as I imagine much of what’s now coming to the car was in the pipeline under his watch, but I don’t know, his departure - first from McLaren after about 5 seconds and then Sauber - made me think he was ultimately not working out. Obviously I have no idea though, just speculating.

I would say that it’s no coincidence that Sauber and has are the two teams highlighted as most improved - that PU is definitely a big step this year, not to mention other Ferrari spec parts.

[MtthsMlw]

Sidepod Update

via Albert Fabrega

[MtthsMlw]

Some development here as well.

[PhillipM]

Interesting, they've slowly gone away from their original twin entry concept as they've developed.

[Morteza]

There's even more new stuff



Via @AlbertFabrega

[Sepehr87]

Interesting, they've slowly gone away from their original twin entry concept as they've developed.

I think it's still twin.

[ScrewCaptain27]

Details via AMuS:

[ScrewCaptain27]

Interesting, they've slowly gone away from their original twin entry concept as they've developed.

I think it's still twin.

Of course it is, there are two separate entries. The internal ducting is probably still separate too.

[MtthsMlw]

Can't find a better photo

[roon]

You can sort of see how Ferrari were able to switch to a single run for most of the wastegate pipe.

[PlatinumZealot]

Sauber have the Ferrari louvres on their radiator. Interestingly it is not the double radiator like Haas.

[Mat-tes]

With their regain development momentum due probably to better finance and feedback from the drivers (I suppose it help), I'm wondering how much could be gained in performance if the car had less opening and odd geometries and be just a bit more streamlined. I know it's not like changing stuff will for sure equal +2 or +3 tenth per lap (balanced package etc.), but the cooling layout on the bodywork and the internals doesn't look to be the most optimal configuration (no one else on the grid has a similar setup for now).
We saw Ferrari's effort this year to reduce the drag on every area of its car having some potential gain, so Sauber could follow the same path and produce a decent car.

We might not get an answer soon unfortunately, Sauber just announced switching focus to 2019, but we can wonder if introducing this slightly more conventional side pod design before moving on to 2019 couldn't be used as a starting point to clean the overall design of the car? This way they can compare data between the different side pod configuration.
Source for the 2019 announcement
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/saub ... t-1062160/

It can't really only be the engine that helped them in joining the top 10 recently, last year Ferrari power unit wasn't slow so this year the chassis side must have gotten better.

[senja]

I don't think they are much draggy. Today they were fastest after Ferrari and Mercedes in 2nd sector. All cars with Ferrari engine are much open at the back. But Sauber have very narrow sidepods in the middle of car. Not much undercut, but whole sidepod is narrower. Something like Sauber C32. That car was very fast on straights.

[M840TR]

The sidepods aren't great for downforce since it blocks air to the rear end. I'm guessing they're having problems with cooling due to which the engine cover is so open like the Williams. No other Ferrari powered car needs so much breathing space.