Sauber Technical Director James Key says the team has pursued “ambitious” and “exciting directions” with its 2024 Formula 1 car as it bids to move up the order.
Having capitalised on the regulation reset in 2022 to return to a competitive midfield standing, Sauber plummeted to ninth place in the Constructors’ standings last season.
The Hinwil-based squad attributed its plight to discovering limitations with its previous car concept, as it amassed just 16 points in its final year associated with Alfa Romeo.
Overseeing the team’s revamped design philosophy on the C44 has been former McLaren Technical Director James Key, who worked for Sauber between 2010 and 2012.
The British engineer, who arrived in September, has confirmed that Sauber’s latest iteration machine has retained minimal components from its troubled predecessor.
While Sauber opted to prioritise renovations to the rear end of its previous car, Key has detailed how the group notably honed in on overhauling the front suspension this winter.
“It is virtually a completely new car, with a few carry-over areas at the rear of the car,” he said ahead of the launch of the 2024 car to be run under the guise of ‘Stake F1 Team’.
“The team had to take an ambitious direction well before I joined: there are many mechanical changes, some of which you can’t see at all, but some are very visible.
“The front suspension is completely new, a tough and ambitious project for a team of our size, there are many aerodynamic changes, of course, as would be expected given that this remains the primary area of development – so, overall, the car will really look quite different to last year’s car.
“We took a lot of new, exciting directions, all of which appear to hold quite a bit of potential, so we’re looking forward to seeing them on track.”
Although he suspects there’s still room for growth in this rules cycle, Key is wary that some teams might start thinking outside of the box more with technical innovations.
When asked to expand on the changes made to its 2024 car, Key added: “Since 2022, when these regulations came in, the cars have developed very rapidly, and there’s a lot of potential in a lot of areas of the car.
“Whilst those trends will probably continue into year three, there may be people who start bucking the trend as well, and we’ve got to watch out for that.
“Some of these areas appear to be progressing quite a lot through the past couple of years, and I’m sure will do so this year as well.
“For example, the front suspension is very different on our new car, as we switched to a pull-rod front suspension, which some other teams have also adopted. This was a choice dictated by aerodynamics, not mechanical reasons. It is quite an important project to produce something that should function as planned.”
With the underside of the floors generating as much as 60% of the downforce on the current ground effect cars, Key has revealed how the team has adopted a revamped solution in that particular area for this year.
“Of course, aerodynamics dominates, so a lot of the external things that you see are for the purposes of generating more efficient downforce: the bodywork is a massive battleground in these cars, much more so than in the previous generation,” he said.
“We can see trends developing there, and the direction we have taken is a lot more extreme than what we did last year: it’s a new departure for the team as well, but more in line with where these trends appear to be going, and possibly a step forward – I’m sure some of our competitors have done similar things, which will be interesting to see.
“Of course, underneath the car, the floor is where the majority of the downforce is generated: we have quite a different approach, a new concept, in that area, and it seems to be a pretty prolific solution at the moment. All of those things are new, there is a lot more under the skin.”
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