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New Sauber unveiled in Valencia
ESPNF1 Staff
January 31, 2010
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Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi unveil the new Sauber C29 © Sutton Images
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Sauber has launched its new car at the Ricardo Tormo circuit near Valencia, the third to be unveiled ahead of the start of testing on Monday.
The car, which will be powered by a Ferrari engine, has an extended sharks-fin on its engine cover, similar to that of the McLaren unveiled two days ago. It retains the same colour scheme from the BMW era, but with larger white areas for new sponsors.
"The last few months have been very intense for us," explained owner Peter Sauber, who regained control of the team at the end of 2009. "First we had to battle to secure the survival of the team and then we focused on putting a strong set-up in place for the future. The technical preparation of the 2010 car has continued uninterrupted and according to plan since the spring of 2009, despite all the turmoil."
Sauber will field his preferred line-up of one experienced driver and one younger challenger. The experience comes from 38-year-old former McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa, while youth is provided by 23-year-old Kamui Kobayashi who made his F1 debut at the end of last season, filling in for an injured Timo Glock at Toyota.
"We have a long tradition of bringing together an up-and-coming youngster and an experienced campaigner as a driver combination - and it's an approach that has brought us a lot of success," Sauber said. "Pedro has been working at the highest level technically for many years and for a top team, and we can benefit as a team from this experience. Young Kamui also has a lot to offer us, and last year he impressed me particularly in Abu Dhabi."
"At last I can feel like a proper racing driver again," de la Rosa said. "I've really missed the competition out on the track. At the same time, though, I've learned a lot technically and on the systems side, and now I want to bring that knowledge to the team."
Kobayashi is also looking forward to his first full season in F1. "I'm very proud that Peter Sauber has shown so much faith in me and I'm determined not to disappoint him," he said. "My aim is that he will end up being proud of me as well."
The team will start its testing programme in Valencia on Monday.
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