Sauber present C23

Today, SAUBER PETRONAS are presenting the new C23 racing car and two new sponsors, "Sokhna Port" and "Tai Kang Life", to international media representatives at Red Bull’s Hangar-7, Salzburg Airport. Team Principal Peter Sauber and the two drivers, Giancarlo Fisichella (30) and Felipe Massa (22), are looking towards the upcoming season with confidence: "Our goal for 2004 is to clearly increase our performance."

The reason for the launch of the new SAUBER PETRONAS C23 being staged at Red Bull’s Hangar-7 at Salzburg Airport is a special anniversary: The partnership and friendship between the Austrian energy drink producer, Red Bull, and Sauber is entering its tenth year in the 2004 season.

For the design of the new SAUBER PETRONAS C23 Technical Director Willy Rampf chose a pragmatic approach, developing a car with a good basis as well as plenty of potential for continued development in order to profit from their new, almost completed windtunnel in Hinwill. Thanks to engine supplier PETRONAS Sauber, for the first time, will be receiving the same type of engine as Ferrari, together with Ferrari’s seven-speed gearbox.

Both drivers are eager to drive the car, which will roll out the day after tomorrow at Valencia. Giancarlo Fisichella looks forward to that introduction, the day on which he gets 31, while Felipe Massa is determined to show he has learnt a lot during his year as a Ferrari test driver.

On the sponsoring side, Team Principal Peter Sauber was able to announce good news, too, as the team has just gained two new partners: "Sokhna Port" and "Tai Kang Life".

Sokhna Port with its ultra-modern logistics centre is strategically located on the coast of the Red Sea at the Gulf of Suez, 130 km east of Cairo. The port was inaugurated in 2002 and makes use of the latest state-of-the-art IT technologies, ensuring the smooth transit of containerised and bulk cargoes.
Tai Kang Life is one of China’s six leading life insurance companies holding a national licence. In June 2003, the company’s total assets amounted to 2.67 billion U.S. dollars, with income from insurance premiums at 2.12 billion.

Technical overview: Sauber's new C23 is now looking very much like the F2003-GA, and not only from the outside. Very important to their performance will for sure be the availability of the brand new Ferrari engine, coupled to Ferrari's own 7 speed gearbox.

On the aerodynamic side, there's not much to say it you would compare it to an F2003-GA. The sidepods are now looking similar to the ones coming from Maranello, being some kind of a bulge at the beginning, but very sleek towards the rear of the car. As may be expected with a Ferrari engine, the exhausts are now almost copied, with the exhaust pipes being hidden from air by a carbon fibre cover, which also enables hot air to exit there.

The most remarkable difference, although nothing spectacular, is the nose, which is a little rounder at the top, and more pointy at the front wing.