Sauber C34 launch

[prisonermonkeys]

Three (and a half) down, five to go. Sauber follow Williams, Mercedes and McLaren (and Force India) in launching their 2015 challenger today.

And here it is!

The nose is very similar to Williams', evoking the 2014 design:

It's very blue.

 

[coryclifford]

Not too shabby.

So far all the new cars look pretty good to me.

 

[GTPorsche]

The nose isn't the greatest, but they bring more color to the grid.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Weirdly, their overalls still cling to the dark grey:

If you want to whinge about a team desperately clinging to a horrid colour scheme, surely this is the more apt target to aim for.

 

[GTPorsche]

The race suit Nasr wore in GP2, any variant of it, would have been better than that drab suit.

 

[05XR8]

looks more Formula Ford or 1990's BTCC than 1billion euros worth of F1 investment.

 

[RACECAR]

So I'm guessing Felipe Nasr is the reason for Banco Do Brazil being on the car.

Anyhow, not a fan of the nose but the livery is nice. The race suit on the other hand, not so much. Can only wonder who decided that.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

I don't recognise this shade of silver.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

looks more Formula Ford or 1990's BTCC than 1billion euros worth of F1 investment.

I think you'll find they spent more than USD $15 on it.

 

[Liquid]

The actual shapes of the cars these days are so unflattering and do not compliment what could be nice liveries.

 

[coryclifford]

Speed has no fashion.

 

[mustafur]

Wish Mercedes didn't take Petronas from Sauber they used to have really good liveries.

 

[Roger the Horse]

The almost total lack of sponsors does suggest that Sauber are in financial trouble and they're not likely to get out of this dip in form any time soon.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

It's believed that between them, Nasr and Ericsson bring €40 million to the team. Lots of sponsor decals don't always equal lots of money - smaller decals sell for less than larger ones.

 

[mister dog]

Reminds me of one of these toy F1 cars small boys play with, blue and with almost no sponsors on it:

Seems like a general trend (crisis?) that most cars have a lot less sponsorship on them than before.

Also i wonder if the FIA wanted to get rid of the shlong noses, how come the noses still look like darned shlongs...

 

[mustafur]

It's believed that between them, Nasr and Ericsson bring €40 million to the team. Lots of sponsor decals don't always equal lots of money - smaller decals sell for less than larger ones.

Well just look when Spyker was racing in 2007, they had more sponsors on their car then any team on the grid basically, but were just about the smallest team on the grid at the time.

 

[Liquid]

That front end. Proboscis monkey.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Also i wonder if the FIA wanted to get rid of the shlong noses, how come the noses still look like darned shlongs...

Because the teams find and exploit loopholes at will. They'll bitch about the aesthetics, but they'll happily inflict it if they think it is the best solution. I believe the technical term is "having your cake and eating it, too".

 

[mister dog]

Because the teams find and exploit loopholes at will. They'll bitch about the aesthetics, but they'll happily inflict it if they think it is the best solution. I believe the technical term is "having your cake and eating it, too".

Can't the FIA setup a waterproof rule for once so no ugly loopholes are possible? Can't be too hard to restrict those noses so they have to look normal again.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Can't the FIA setup a waterproof rule for once so no ugly loopholes are possible? Can't be too hard to restrict those noses so they have to look normal again.

That's exactly what they tried to do here. The 2015 rules were written specifically to get rid of the dramatic shapes, and the teams still found a way around it. There is no watertight rule - the teams will chase whatever solution they think is best.

 

[Liquid]

If you make rules there will always be loopholes. If you don't want any loopholes, have fewer rules.

 

[mister dog]

Spec noses? A beautiful aesthetic nose that all teams are forced to use (you know like the late Michael Jackson would fantasize about).

 

[sems4arsenal]

I like it when team changes liveries drastically so happy with that (aside from the nose).

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Spec noses? A beautiful aesthetic nose that all teams are forced to use (you know like the late Michael Jackson would fantasize about).

You might as well have a spec chassis, then. The nose is the first part of the car to hit the air in front of it, and so it influences every single part of the car. If you limit what the teams can do by forcing them to have a spec nose, you effectively limit what they can do with the rest of the car.

Here's a better idea: make your peace with it.

 

[mister dog]

Here's a better idea: make your peace with it.

It's been more than a year now of staring at these phalluses, and i am still not at peace with it (probably never will).

 

[AJ]

 

[05XR8]

i like it. the wheels remind me of slot cars. i like all the new cars. they look simpler in design, but one look at the front wing and I know it's not all that simple. if the team can stay afloat as is, more power too them.

 

[Robin]

At least it's something new, slightly bland but new.

 

[RACECAR]

Also i wonder if the FIA wanted to get rid of the shlong noses, how come the noses still look like darned shlongs...

What do you mean? This is the only 2015 car revealed that still has that nose. I'm not seeing that nose on the other cars.

 

[Kenocar]

A rather boring shade of blue, with not enough white accents, and lacks a little more yellow. It already looks like the most boring car in the grid.