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Sauber present C32 from Switzerland

The busy F1 launch period continues with Sauber's 2013 car

Published 2 February 2013 by Christine Blachford

It's time for another live launch on Sidepodcast, as Sauber very kindly unveil their 2013 car on a Saturday morning. With two new drivers in the shape of Nico Hülkenberg and Esteban Gutiérrez, it's all change at Sauber and it will be intriguing to see how the boys look in their new gear, and how the car looks in its 2013 evolution.

So far, we've seen a split in the decision whether to run with the modesty panel or not, and whilst the machinery we are seeing in the launches may not be what makes it to the track in testing or at the first race, it's still a good indication of how the team's feel about the stepped nose. Which way will Sauber go?

Follow the Factbyte Factbox for updates as we watch the C32 unveiled live.

As it happened: Sauber F1 Team 2013 launch

Event Highlights

New drivers Esteban Gutiérrez and Nico Hülkenberg pull the covers off the car
The C32 is unveiled with new colour scheme, more gray and less white
There are significant changes to the bodywork, with thinner sidepods and a stepped nose compromise
Monisha Kaltenborn doesn't have a specific target, just to "continue on our upward curve"

10:10
Hello there, another day another team launch! This time it's Sauber's turn to whip off the covers of their 2013 car. Are you ready?
10:17
Tweet from @RFrijns: Today is the big day!! Car launch @OfficialSF1Team !! Really looking forward to see this beauty! Team did a awesome job!!
10:20
Sauber are yet another team that are launching their car live, with the handy tool known as YouTube. You can follow along on the site or on YouTube itself: http://www.sauberf1team.com/ or http://www.youtube.com/sauberf1team
10:49
Just about ten minutes to go now before the launch of the car. There's no flurry of leaked pictures, so either Sauber are good at this, or no one is awake yet.
10:50
The video appears to have gone live, although still showing the same placeholder screen for now.
10:58
Ah, the video woke up for a moment there, pretty shots of Hinwil. Actually, not so pretty, mostly road signs and office buildings.
11:00
A brief countdown, and the launch is go!
11:01
There's the car, under covers, and our presenter with Britney-style mic.
11:01
Monisha is welcomed to the stage, "Mrs Kaltenborn."
11:02
Monisha: "I'm very excited but also a little tense. A launch like this, then the roll out is an exciting moment. We're just days away from when the new car will be hitting the track, we compare ourselves for the first time to our competitors, it's very exciting."
11:03
More from Monisha: "The aim is very clear, we want to keep improving ourselves. The key factor of this is the car. The C32 is based on its predecessor, it had its strengths and a few weaknesses, the engineers focused on building the strengths and eliminating the weaknesses."
11:03
11:03
Peter Sauber watches on proudly from the audience.
11:04
Monisha is thanking the sponsors/partners, and saying that in this economic climate, you just can't take these partnerships for granted.
11:05
A brief word from Monisha about each of the drivers, just before they take to the stage. Esteban and Nico removing their caps and standing by the car.
11:05
They take the covers off, to very dramatic music!
11:06
Much darker livery, very sleek and grey, with a few red and white stripes. It's nice!
11:06
Nico: "The colour scheme has changed a bit, it looks great, now I'm curious to take it out and see how fast it is."
11:07
Esteban: "As Nico said, it's very exciting to see the car. It's very innovative, I'm looking forward to take it on track, first in the test and then to race it."
11:07
The new Sauber!
11:08
Nico on getting used to a new car: "It depends how well testing goes, depends on how much experience you've got. It's my third year in Formula One, I've got a few kilometres on my shoulders. Once you get through winter testing, with a good programme behind you, by the time you get to Melbourne you should be in the sweet spot."
11:09
Now a video of the boys filming in the factory, messing about, laughing, racing some ride along plastic buggies.
11:10
A clip of the drivers, and they are HIGH FIVING ON A SEGWAY. They deserve to win the championship for that alone.
11:11
Their overalls have also had more grey added, it's a nice colour scheme.
11:12
Esteban: "I think the most important challenge in F1 is to adapt to the whole psychological atmosphere, you have the media around, there's a certain adaptation to the car. The challenge I want to achieve is to be consistent at a high competitive level. This is what I'm looking for."
11:13
Nico looks forward to 2013.
11:13
The all new driver line-up is applauded as they leave the stage.
11:16
Matt Morris, Chief Designer: "Checo had quite a bad accident in Monaco. When we got the car back and saw the sidepods all squashed in, we wondered if we could do that for real. It's obviously aero driven, it's been a huge challenge for us, structure wise and packaging wise... and ensuring we still pass all the mandatory FIA tests."
11:19
The stream seems to have come to an odd end - the presenter signed off, then they brought Morris to the stage, but now it has faded to black.
11:19
Still, a good launch, what we saw of it. New livery, interesting car design, quite different, and a brand new driver line-up. It really is all change at Sauber.
11:19
We'll keep the reactions, quotes and pictures coming so do keep checking back.
11:25
Tweet from @F1Racing_mag: "It's an aggressive-looking car and we're confident it will be aggressive on track," says Morris.
11:26
Monisha doesn't want to make any predictions: "We’re not saying we want to finish in this or that position in the standings, as ultimately other factors will also come into play that are outside our control. What we can be clear about, however, is that we want to continue on our upward curve."
11:30
Esteban on his winter preparations: "Apart from all my training back home, I also had the chance to spend very good days in Austria in December and January concentrating on my physical preparation, mainly based on winter sports like CrossCountry skiing, climbing through the snow, etc."
11:34
Tweet from @alanbaldwinf1: Well, I think the C32 looked pretty neat. Aggressive, smart grey paint job and nice solution to the nose. Hope it's quick.
12:51
13:36
More from Monisha on her expectations from the car: "What I can say is that we’re well prepared, that we’ve got the new car finished in good time and that we’ve met the performance targets we set ourselves internally. That puts us in a confident frame of mind. But we’ll only really find out what it all amounts to at the first race of the season in Melbourne."
13:36
13:37
Esteban is anticipating the next few months of adjustment: "In the beginning the most important task is to solve all the car’s reliability issues so we can put in a lot of laps in the tests. Then, of course, another important factor is to get to know the car in race and qualifying conditions, which mainly comes with experience during the first races."
15:44
The launch summed up in 60 seconds: www.f1minute.com/…32-hinwil-factory

All content in the series 2013 F1 launches

Filed under Pre-season analysis

References Esteban Gutiérrez, Nico Hülkenberg

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★

Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 10:29:10
Morning :)
Christine 02/02/2013 at 10:31:48
Morning :)
Hello! Sauber Saturday has arrived.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 10:32:32
Hello! Sauber Saturday has arrived.
Sauber duper!
I'm expecting another conservative livery of white and black but it would be fun if they surprised us.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 10:33:06
Also the Sauber link looked like the car has been consumed by sugar.
Christine 02/02/2013 at 10:40:56
Also the Sauber link looked like the car has been consumed by sugar.
If the car has melted, they are going to be in a bit of trouble this year.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 10:46:36
There is a countdown!
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 10:51:30
hey y'all.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 10:51:44
hey y'all.
top o' the morning to ya
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 10:54:07
top o' the morning to ya
:)
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 10:54:41
Ooh now's a good chance to share whilst we're waiting. I had a dream last night I was a team owner and my drivers were Irvine, Maldonado, Allan McNish and alonso and they had to go through some kind of gameshow to get the drive. It was good fun actually.
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 10:55:39
i love minimalist sauber homepage.
just a youtube video.
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 10:57:49
is this a silent launch?
charlie chaplin to reveal all?
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 10:58:20
hinwill looks lovely.
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 10:58:34
hinwill looks lovely.
...in a sounds of music kinda way.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 10:58:47
...in a sounds of music kinda way.
The hillllsss are alive, for the sound of VRROOOMMMM
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 10:59:08
i like the camera panning. I feel like a sitcom is about to start.
Christine 02/02/2013 at 10:59:27
i like the camera panning. I feel like a sitcom is about to start.
It really feels like the opening credits to UK Office.
Christine 02/02/2013 at 10:59:33
It really feels like the opening credits to UK Office.
The Office.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 10:59:51
It really feels like the opening credits to UK Office.
It does!
...and yet I started singing the US Office theme tune in my head...
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:00:09
quick countdown!
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:00:24
thunderbirds are go?
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:00:55
Aww, it's such a little place.
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:01:13
already better than the mcalren launch.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:01:23
oooh, blacker overalls.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:01:37
Monisha!
Christine 02/02/2013 at 11:01:38
"unveeling." This man is cute as.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:01:59
I thought he said the new car would hit Perez. Harsh!
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:03:21
Yay, Peter's there too
Journeyer 02/02/2013 at 11:04:00
Hi all.
Monisha sounding rather corporate so far. Building on strengths, removing weaknesses and all that.
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:04:15
320px video, poor quality in comparison to other teams.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:04:28
There overalls look nice.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:04:36
*Their. Shameful!
Journeyer 02/02/2013 at 11:04:48
A note: Sauber is celebrating its 20th anniversary in F1 this year, joining Williams (35th) and McLaren (50th) as teams celebrating historical milestones this year.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:05:11
A note: Sauber is celebrating its 20th anniversary in F1 this year, joining Williams (35th) and McLaren (50th) as teams celebrating historical milestones this year.
McLaren's 50th anniversary is the same as Doctor Who's 50th anniversary. I CALL SHENANIGANS!
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:05:26
Unveeling time.
Journeyer 02/02/2013 at 11:05:30
Esteban's eyes have a sleepy look to them.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:05:45
IT'S BLACK!
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:06:02
That is one nice car.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:06:40
Although it does look like the first HRT.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:07:03
No stepped nose too.
Journeyer 02/02/2013 at 11:07:05
Although it does look like the first HRT.
The black is a great reminder of the first Sauber, which was also black.
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:07:52
No stepped nose too.
bit of a dip in the middle though.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:08:05
bit of a dip in the middle though.
very 'red bull' a few years back
Journeyer 02/02/2013 at 11:08:22
The black is a great reminder of the first Sauber, which was also black.
Actually, it's more graphite grey than black. But close enough for me.
Lynch 02/02/2013 at 11:08:22
uh... not sure about the "groin area" numbers on the overalls...
Lynch 02/02/2013 at 11:08:41
also.. yeeehh a new paint scheme!
Christine 02/02/2013 at 11:09:09
Making some filming.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:09:26
Heheheh, littler sauber trucks!
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:09:40
They already deserve points!
Christine 02/02/2013 at 11:10:04
I think Sauber is my new favourite.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:10:20
That's a big tunnel.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:10:38
The teamwear is really nice too.
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:10:39
I think Sauber is my new favourite.
♥ ♥
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:11:04
Also they look like they have some really good content coming over 2013!
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:13:39
Chhhherez.
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:14:02
that was fun. good launch.
Journeyer 02/02/2013 at 11:14:12
Who was the host, BTW?
Journeyer 02/02/2013 at 11:14:48
The most important will be... Perez??
OHHH. He said Jerez! ;)
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:16:29
oh.
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:16:43
hello hinwill?
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:17:08
switzerland, can we have your results please...
~dreamland~ 02/02/2013 at 11:17:20
Penny in the meter please.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:17:48
switzerland, can we have your results please...
nil points :)
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:18:48
was enjoying it until then
~dreamland~ 02/02/2013 at 11:20:44
And in FUF you was saying how reliable everything was this year with the help of YouTube.
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:21:03
And in FUF you was saying how reliable everything was this year with the help of YouTube.
hahahahah.
i jinxed it.
~dreamland~ 02/02/2013 at 11:37:12
Hope the Sauber F1 car doesn't stop as abruptly as that launch!
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:40:53
Hope the Sauber F1 car doesn't stop as abruptly as that launch!
based on today, it'll win the race, then run out of fuel before reaching the paddock, ending in a disqualification.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:48:12
Interesting use of a stepped nose, actually...
https://pbs.twimg…YAE6hnV.jpg:large
Stuart Taylor 02/02/2013 at 11:51:23
I like the way the Sidepods are Cast.
EH
EH
Stuart Taylor 02/02/2013 at 11:51:58
Interesting use of a stepped nose, actually...
coffee holder?
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 11:52:30
I like the way the Sidepods are Cast.
EH
EH
...
...
*fist bump*
Christine 02/02/2013 at 11:53:15
*fist bump*
High five on a Segway!
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:53:50
Off topic slightly, but Mercedes apparently are showing something off about their new car in 5 minutes?
Probably just another teaser.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 11:55:48
High five on a Segway!
The Segway stuff just reminds me of this :)
Loved them riding about on little trucks too.
Lukeh 02/02/2013 at 12:06:36
Off topic slightly, but Mercedes apparently are showing something off about their new car in 5 minutes?
www.mercedes-amg-…w04-online-reveal
Twitter hashtags can dictate the pace of the car being revealed later today. Very cool!
Mr C 02/02/2013 at 12:08:26
aren't mercedes launching monday?!
Christine 02/02/2013 at 12:08:34
Twitter hashtags can dictate the pace of the car being revealed later today. Very cool!
That's genius!
Will^ 02/02/2013 at 14:56:28
Oooo menacing.
Ryan 02/02/2013 at 15:36:38
Yay, we built a nice looking car with a nice looking livery for once!
Steven Roy 02/02/2013 at 21:34:03
I remember when the grid was full of cars that were all red and/or white. Now they are all going to be silver and grey. #corporate
Jordan F1 02/02/2013 at 21:51:27
I remember when the grid was full of cars that were all red and/or white. Now they are all going to be silver and grey. #corporate
Well, in those days Ferrari was just some lonely engineer in an italian Car Facotry and Alfa Romeos, Lanicas, Maseratis and Auto Unions and Mercedes where the only cars that could win races - what ever blue and green cars there where being considered absolute jokes....
Go Kiwi Orange!
Steven Roy 02/02/2013 at 22:10:58
Well, in those days Ferrari was just some lonely engineer in an italian Car Facotry and Alfa Romeos, Lanicas, Maseratis and Auto Unions and Mercedes where the only cars that could win races - what ever blue and green cars there where being considered absolute jokes....
I am not so old that I can remember Lancia and in F1 or when Auto Union were racing in GPs pre-war. I remember the re-incarnation of Alfa-Romeo when they looked like McLaren clones that had become fat and slow though.
Jordan F1 02/02/2013 at 23:38:16
I am not so old that I can remember Lancia and in F1 or when Auto Union were racing in GPs pre-war. I remember the re-incarnation of Alfa-Romeo when they looked like McLaren clones that had become fat and slow though.
Sorry, I thought that you where talking about the days in F1 when the teams would race in national racing colours. For red and very light (titanium?) silver-grey cars to be winning regularly would put this lecture in Sidepodland's University's paleontology department....
I'm bad....
Steven Roy 03/02/2013 at 10:17:35
It looks like McLaren not only have a pay driver whose sponsor has the deepest pockets in the world but he is a design genius too. McLaren just need to hope he crashes as often as Andrea deCesaris and who knows what revolutionary designs he could come up with. Red Bull are going to have to put Newey through a crash course or he will be left behind
www.autosport.com…ort.php/id/105375
Jordan F1 03/02/2013 at 19:14:22
It looks like McLaren not only have a pay driver whose sponsor has the deepest pockets in the world but he is a design genius too. McLaren just need to hope he crashes as often as Andrea deCesaris and who knows what revolutionary designs he could come up with. Red Bull are going to have to put Newey through a crash course or he will be left behind
www.autosport.com…ort.php/id/105375
Why McLaren when the link seems to point to a Sauber, Steven ?
Steven Roy 03/02/2013 at 19:58:41
Why McLaren when the link seems to point to a Sauber, Steven ?
Sauber have new thin sidepods. It says in that piece that they got the idea after Perez smashed his car and despite drastically narrowing the sidepods they still functioned.
Maybe Maldonado isn't crash happy. Maybe he is a design genius too and no-one has noticed
Jordan F1 03/02/2013 at 21:10:10
Maybe Maldonado isn't crash happy. Maybe he is a design genius too and no-one has noticed
Nah, I am pretty sure that Maldie's been so shunt-happy that he's been able to crash the Williams F1 simulator dispite it NOT having a Microsoft Windows Operating System.....
Quite the feat that, but nothing surppassing 140 on the old IQ scale.....

1	Sebastian Vettel	89
2	Kimi Räikkönen	85
3	Fernando Alonso	72
4	Lewis Hamilton	50
5	Felipe Massa	45

1	Infiniti Red Bull Racing	131
2	Scuderia Ferrari	117
3	Lotus F1 Team	111
4	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	72
5	Sahara Force India F1 Team	32

Australian Grand Prix	17 Mar
Malaysian Grand Prix	24 Mar
Chinese Grand Prix	14 Apr
Bahrain Grand Prix	21 Apr
Spanish Grand Prix	12 May

Sidepodcast

All for F1 and F1 for all

Sauber present C32 from Switzerland

The busy F1 launch period continues with Sauber's 2013 car

As it happened: Sauber F1 Team 2013 launch

All content in the series 2013 F1 launches

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Sauber present C32 from Switzerland

The busy F1 launch period continues with Sauber's 2013 car

As it happened: Sauber F1 Team 2013 launch

All content in the series 2013 F1 launches

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