Kamui Kobayashi sports helmet design by Linkin Park

Hinwil/Los Angeles/Sao Paulo, 24^th November 2011 – Sauber F1 Team driver Kamui Kobayashi will be lining up on the Sao Paulo grid for the FIA Formula One World Championship final wearing a special helmet design in a good cause. An encounter with rock band Linkin Park in Singapore sparked the idea for a helmet auction to support aid for Japan through the internationally renowned charity organisation Music for Relief, initiated by Linkin Park.

Since 2005, Music for Relief has raised more than five million US dollars for disaster victims and environmental projects. Of this, 700,000 dollars alone has been donated to Japan to help it deal with the consequences of the disasters that struck on 11^th March this year.

Joe Hahn, producer and band member of Linkin Park, personally designed the unique helmet for Kamui Kobayashi. As the Japanese driver explains: “I’ve long been a fan of Linkin Park. I love their music and I’m impressed by the band’s social commitment. I was thrilled to meet the musicians personally in the paddock when they were giving a concert at the Singapore Grand Prix. We’ve been in touch since then and I’m really pleased that Joe Hahn has designed a helmet for me. I hope that we will be able to raise a lot of money for Music for Relief to help rebuild my country.”

Joe Hahn comments: “This was a fun opportunity to create something for Kamui while continuing our efforts to raise funds for Japan.”

In Singapore, the band members were Paddock Club guests of the Good Smile Company, a personal sponsor of Kamui Kobayashi. The helmet – worth 3,500 euros even without its unique design – was provided by Arai Helmet Ltd.

The online auction opens this Thursday (09.00 hrs in Los Angeles/15.00 Sao Paulo/18.00 CET) at:

http://bit.ly/kamuihelmet

It ends on Monday, 19^th December 2011 (14.00 hrs in Los Angeles/23.00 CET)

About Music for Relief: 

Founded by two-time Grammy winning/multi-platinum rock band Linkin Park, Music for Relief is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing aid to victims of natural disasters and the prevention of such disasters. Since its inception in 2005, Music for Relief has raised over $5 million for victims of multiple disasters across four continents including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, hurricane Katrina, China’s Wenchuan earthquake, a cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 2011 earthquake & tsunami in Japan. Music for Relief also supports environmental programs as a means of disaster risk mitigation including the planting of over 955,000 trees to help reduce global warming. The organization was recently recognized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon for the Download to Donate program to raise funds and awareness in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. For more information visit http://www.musicforrelief.org

 

 

 

Kamui – Helmet – Linkin Park Design 5000 x 3333 – 1.82 MB	Kamui – Helmet – Linkin Park Design 5000 x 3333 – 1.75 MB	Kamui – Helmet – Linkin Park Design 5000 x 3333 – 1.77 MB
Kamui – Helmet – Linkin Park Design 5000 x 3333 – 1.6 MB	Kamui – Helmet – Linkin Park Design 5000 x 3333 – 1.84 MB

 

 

credit : Sauber F1 Team

Sauber – British GP – Qualifying – Saturday, 09.07.2011

 

Press release

British GP – Qualifying – Saturday, 09.07.2011

Weather: Overcast with rain showers, 17-20°C air, 16-23°C track

Despite some pretty fickle English weather, the Sauber F1 Team had its best qualifying result of the season for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez capitalised on a good third free practice to be eighth and 12^th respectively in qualifying. While Q1 started in the dry, a sudden rain shower came before they could change from hard to soft tyres, but this did not bother either Sauber C30-Ferrari as they both had comfortable margins for getting through to Q2. Pérez missed out on Q3 by one of the smallest margins possible, while eighth was the best result for Kobayashi in his F1 career.

Kamui Kobayashi:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 01 / Ferrari 056)

Qualifying: 8^th/1:32.128 min (in Q3, soft tyres) / 3^rd Practice: 7^th/1:33.014 min

“It was a tricky qualifying with the constantly changing conditions. It was extremely difficult to predict what would be right and what would be wrong, but we have handled this quite well. In Q1 I struggled a bit because I wasn’t used to the car’s balance on the hard tyres, and didn’t have a chance to do a lap on the soft compound because the rain set in. In Q2 the track conditions were still tricky and damp, but in Q3, when I did my final lap on fresh soft tyres, everything worked out the way it should do. I am happy with this lap and I am especially thankful to my team because, due to their hard work, we recovered from what happened on Friday morning. Now I want to make the most of all this in tomorrow’s race.”

Sergio Pérez:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 02 / Ferrari 056)

Qualifying: 12^th/1:32.624 min (in Q2, soft tyres) / 3^rd Practice: 9^th/1:33.264 min

“I think we did a good job today. It is a shame to miss Q3 by 36 thousandths of a second, but I’m quite happy with our performance. Because of the changing conditions it was not an easy qualifying. Overall here our car is good. This is thanks to some improvements but also down to the circuit. The high speed corners suit us quite well. From where I will start the race I have every chance to score points tomorrow, and I am very much looking forward to my first British Grand Prix.”

Peter Sauber, Team Principal:

“It has become even more difficult to get into the top ten, and this means you are going to be even happier when you make it. Congratulations to Kamui and his crew, as today timing was also very important. Sergio’s 12^th place is also alright, and he has saved a set of fresh tyres for the race.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“I think all in all it was a reasonable day. This morning we had the first dry running of the weekend, so there was a lot of work to do. A lot of the test items from Friday had to be carried over to a very busy third free practice, but we pretty much proved everything we needed to, which was good. In qualifying it was tricky, as the conditions were very, very variable and quite difficult to predict, even though we had radar showing that the rain was quite light. It would have been great to get both cars into Q3, but we got one so we can’t complain at all. Sergio did a great job to be 12^th, and Kamui did very well to get through. Our position is okay, although it would have been nice to be a little bit further ahead, but we know our race pace is very strong compared to our qualifying pace so we will be looking to make the most of our starting positions tomorrow.“

 

Kamui – Sauber C30-Ferrari
5000 x 3333 – 1.42 MB

Sergio – Sauber C30-Ferrari
3333 x 5000 – 1.29 MB

 

credit : Sauber F1 Team

Sauber F1 Team – Grand Prix of Europe , Valencia, 26th of June of 2011

 

Press release

 

European GP, Valencia – Race – Sunday, 26.06.2011

Weather: sunny and dry, 27-28°C air, 45-47°C track

For the first time this season neither Sauber F1 Team driver finished a race in the top ten. Sergio Pérez, having started 16^th, just missed scoring by coming 11^th in the hot European Grand Prix. After having started on the harder tyres, he only made one stop for the softer compound after 25 laps. Kamui Kobayashi had started 14^th on the softer tyres, stopped twice and finished 16^th. Overall the Sauber C30-Ferrari was not quick enough on the Valencia street circuit to allow the drivers to attack.

Sergio Pérez: 11^th

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 02 / Ferrari 056)

Tyres: start on medium tyres, after 25 laps change to soft tyres

“In the beginning I had a very difficult time with the harder tyres, but also with the softer ones I had a lack of grip and later in the race I lost a lot of time due to blue flags. It was not an easy Grand Prix for a comeback and I’m happy I was able to race again. I gave a hundred percent, but I’m afraid this was the maximum we could get today. However, we will analyse how we can improve for the future, and I’m sure Silverstone will be better.”

Kamui Kobayashi: 16^th

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 01 / Ferrari 056)

Tyres: Start on soft tyres, after 11 laps medium tyres, after 33 laps soft tyres

“It was a very tough race for me. I struggled all the time and never had the performance to fight. It was difficult to manage the tyres. I tried to take care of them as well as possible, but they were gone pretty quickly. Then, at those times when I wanted to push, I got stuck in traffic. We have some work to do, this is for sure.”

Peter Sauber, Team Principal:

“Up to this race we were able to manage tyres better in the race than others, however, today, this wasn’t the case. During the whole weekend we were not strong enough as a team, but we know we can do better.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“We are disappointed to finish outside the top ten for the first time this year. We took a gamble with both cars with the strategy to try and make something out of our compromised grid positions. Sergio did an excellent job to do a one stop race, which for here was always going to be pretty tough. He made his way to P11 in the end and wasn’t too far from the cars ahead in the points. He got quite badly held up by blue flags, and lost quite a bit of lap time there. That happened just before the last stops, and it dropped him back a bit, so we couldn’t make it there at the end. However, it was a good effort from him to hang on to the tyres. Kamui started on the soft tyres, then went on the medium in the middle stint, and tried to use the new soft tyres in the end as a two stopper. That didn’t quite work out. The medium tyres were too slow, but we didn’t want to run too long on the soft in the end. In hindsight maybe a three stop strategy would have been better. It was always going to be difficult to get a car in the points from where we started, because overtaking is still difficult here. We now have to go to Silverstone, a very different track from the last three, and make sure that we can improve”

 

Kamui – Sauber C30-Ferrari 5000 x 3333 – 1.61 MB	Sergio – Sauber C30-Ferrari 5000 x 3333 – 1.87 MB	Sergio / Kamui 5000 x 3333 – 1.87 MB
Kamui 3328 x 5000 – 1.58 MB	Sergio 5000 x 333

 

 

credit : Sauber F1 Team

Sauber F1 – Canada GP tech preview

James Key, Technical Director:

“Montreal will be the first track this year where slightly lower drag levels tend to be beneficial, although this will depend on the grip of the track surface and the tyres, which are an unknown. Last year we had some interesting strategies developing because tyre degradation was quite high. It’s not clear if this will also be the case with the Pirelli tyres. It’s a circuit with quite a few low speed chicanes and kerbs, so mechanical grip, good traction and kerbing is quite critical. It’s also a track which is one of the hardest on braking, therefore brake stability, brake cooling and general use of the brake system will be something to watch out for. The track in Montreal is usually good for overtaking, and with KERS, DRS and the tyre characteristic it should definitely offer opportunities for this. For the first time this year we will have two DRS zones which will also add to this. Our car will have some modifications to adapt to a lower drag setting, but we will tune that according to the track grip and the conditions. We hope for a good race weekend again. Monaco was a race with ups and downs, with Kamui bringing us ten points but with Sergio not competing after his accident in qualifying. When I spoke to him he sounded very well and was looking forward to getting back to work. We are looking forward to having him back in the car.”

Circuit	Circuit Giles Villeneuve / 4.361 km
Race distance	70 laps / 305.270 km
Schedule	Qualifying and Race at 13:00 hrs local time (17:00 GMT)

 

 

credit : Sauber F1 Team

Sauber F1 Team – Spanish GP ,Race – Sunday, 22.05.2011

Press release

Spanish GP – Race – Sunday, 22.05.2011

Weather: dry and sunny, 22-27°C air, 32-43°C track

The Sauber F1 Team will leave the Circuit de Catalunya in a happy mood after both Sergio Pérez and Kamui Kobayashi scored points in the Spanish Grand Prix by finishing ninth and tenth respectively. This has added another three points to the team’s score after there has been a Sauber C30-Ferrari in the points for the fourth consecutive race this season. This result is particularly significant for the team’s rookie driver, Pérez, as these are his first ever world championship points.

Sergio Pérez: 9^th

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)

“It was a tough race today and a hard fight for points. I’m really happy we made it. My first points in Formula One are obviously something special for me, and it is good for the team that Kamui also scored. The team had a very good race strategy and did a perfect job at the pit stops. I feel that for me today is a turning point in this season. We will continue well and score more points.”

Kamui Kobayashi: 10^th

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 04 / Ferrari 056)

“I lost a lot of time on lap one today. After the start I was pushed into the gravel and then another car touched me, which resulted in a left rear puncture. I had to pit and was relegated to last, which of course cost us a very good set of the soft tyres. I had to do quite a long stint on the harder tyres, which was not easy, but overall the race pace was okay. I’m happy to have scored for the fourth time in a row, and think we are going in the right direction.”

Peter Sauber, Team Principal:

“It is not easy in this very strong field to get points if you start 12^th and 14^th. Despite a puncture on Kamui’s car, thanks to a good strategy we managed to get both cars into the top ten. Congratulations to Sergio for his first championship points, as after he lost those from Melbourne he has had to wait a while. Kamui has shown another good fight back from the tail end of the field. I am very happy the new aero package has had the effect that the gap to the top teams did not grow and the gap to those behind did not shrink. I want to send a thank you to Hinwil.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“It was a difficult start to the race in many ways. We recovered well and I think both drivers did particularly good jobs to get into the points. It was quite eventful right from the outset when we think Kamui was pushed onto the grass on the first lap and then got a puncture. He ended up coming in at the end of lap one and so was last on lap two. It was a great effort from him to come back and score a point, rather similar to the last race in Turkey, but this time without any tyre advantages. Sergio also drove well. He came in early and then really pushed on the hard tyre. Then we had some reasonably good soft tyres at the end when he managed to get up to the people he was fighting with and overtake them.”

Kamui
3543 x 2362 – 0.81 MB

Sergio – Sauber C30-Ferrari
3543 x 2362 – 1.17 MB

credit : Sauber F1 Team

Sauber F1 Team – Spanish GP – Qualifying

Press release

Spanish GP – Qualifying – Saturday, 21.05.2011

Weather: sunny and dry, 22-24°C air, 26-40°C track

Qualifying for the Sauber F1 Team was frustrating with the early promise from Q1 turning to disappointment in Q2. The updates the team has brought to the Circuit de Catalunya for the Sauber C30-Ferrari have definitely worked, with the pace for both drivers in free practice demonstrating this. In the end Sergio Perez was 12^th fastest in qualifying while Kamui Kobayashi was stuck behind a slower car and so could only manage 14^th.

Sergio Pérez:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)

Qualifying: 12^th/1:23,367 min (in Q2) / 3^rd Practice: 12^th/1:24,329 min (19 laps)

“I had no particular problems on my last lap, but it wasn’t good. Being 12^th isn’t too bad and I’m very positive for the race, but my run with the new tyres today didn’t work out. This is a shame because I’m happy with the car and this is crucial for tomorrow’s race. Compared to this morning, we have made a lot of set up changes and they work.”

Kamui Kobayashi:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 04 / Ferrari 056)

Qualifying: 14^th/1:23,702 min (in Q2) / 3^rd Practice: 7^th/1:23,669 min (17 laps)

“On my last lap, when I was on new soft tyres, a Force India was in trouble in front of me, he made a mistake in turn ten and that was it for me. It is a shame because our new aero package is working well. We have clearly made progress and the car was definitely good enough for a place in the top ten. However, for the race we should be okay and dealing with the super hard tyres will be tricky for everyone.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“It was a bit frustrating for all of us and not representative of where we want to be. Much like the last race, we need to come back a little bit tomorrow and try make something of it in the race. We made some good changes to the car overnight, and Kamui in particular was a lot happier with his car on newer tyres this morning. His pace looked pretty promising for qualifying so we didn’t really change the car much for him. For Sergio there was a little bit of work to do to improve his balance a bit, but that was worked on between FP3 and qualifying. Otherwise FP3 was generally quite good and we were happy the pace we appeared to have yesterday had carried over to this morning, so making a shot at Q3 possible. We did just a single run on soft tyres in Q1. Then we did a quick lap on used tyres in Q2 and a single lap on new tyres at the end of the session. Unfortunately Sergio was just a bit shy of the top ten, while Kamui ended up being stuck behind a slower car for half a lap, so he unfortunately lost his time and was unable to progress from P14, which was set on old tyres.“

Kamui – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 1.03 MB

Cuervo – Freeze the Moment 2362 x 3536 – 0.88 MB

Sergio – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 1.35 MB

credit : Sauber F1 Team

Sauber F1 Team – Turkish GP – Race

Press release

Turkish GP – Race – Sunday, 08.05.2011

Weather: dry and sunny, 15-17°C air, 33-35°C track

Despite very poor grid positions – Sergio Pérez started 15^th, and Kamui Kobayashi started last on the grid after a technical failure in qualifying – the Sauber F1 Team managed to score another point at the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul. Kobayashi finished tenth after countless overtaking manoeuvres and despite a puncture. Pérez also had a strong race, but he lost time due to an early stop for repairs and finished 14^th.

Kamui Kobayashi: 10^th

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 04 / Ferrari 056)

“It was a lot of fun today, I really enjoyed this race. I found overtaking here a lot easier than last year in Hungary. Before the race I had promised Peter (Sauber) to score points today. It is just one point now because we lost so much time due to a puncture, which was the result of touching Sébastien Buemi when I overtook him. Otherwise I think I could have finished seventh and score more points. The car was great and also the team had a very good strategy for me, so I want to thank them for this. In the end I had to be a bit careful and save the tyres, because the last stint was quite long with 20 laps, but it worked out well.”

Sergio Pérez: 14^th  

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)

“We had a good pace today and I clearly had a chance to score my first points. It is a real shame what happened on the first lap. Pastor Maldonado was braking quite hard in front of me and I couldn’t avoid hitting him. I broke my front wing and had to pit. Apart from that I found it quite difficult to manage the tyres – both compounds actually – but the car was really good. I will now continue to work with the team to improve my qualifying performance.”

Peter Sauber, Team Principal:

“The Sauber C30 Ferrari was excellent today, as were both our drivers, and the strategy could not have been any better. Kamui overtook countless drivers, and Sergio also passed many competitors. Unfortunately neither driver was able to get the full reward they deserved today. However, Kamui scored one point despite starting from the back of the grid, which was amazing.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“What an eventful race! A great drive by both our drivers. The car was definitely a lot better than in qualifying, and the drivers extracted the most out of it. It’s a real shame we couldn’t get them both in the points and finish a bit higher up, because it was possible. Unfortunately, Sergio had front wing damage on lap one, and we had to change his strategy and put him at the back of the pack. Kamui had a puncture towards the end of the second stint, which dropped him back. So it’s a real shame, but we can’t complain, because we managed to squeeze a point out of it after starting with both drivers in a compromised position. I think it’s a tribute to Kamui’s race craft to go from P24 to 10. Now we have an updated package for Barcelona, and we hope this will help us to continue to score points on a regular basis.”

Sergio – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.55 MB

Kamui – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.88 MB

credit : Sauber F1 Team

Sauber, Turkish GP – Qualifying – Saturday, 07.05.2011

Turkish GP – Qualifying – Saturday, 07.05.2011

Weather: Sunny and dry, 14-18°C air, 27-37°C track

The qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix turned out to be a disappointment for the Sauber F1 Team. Kamui Kobayashi retired in the early minutes of the session due to a fuel system problem and Sergio Pérez didn’t manage to get the most out of the softer tyre compound. Kobayashi will have to start last for tomorrow’s race, Pérez qualified 15^th.

Sergio Pérez:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)

Qualifying: 15^th/1:27.244 min (in Q2) / 3^rd practice: 11^th/1:27.121 min (20 laps)

„Of course I’m disappointed about today’s qualifying result. In Q1 my lap time with the harder tyre compound was okay, but then in Q2 the run on the softer compound was not good. Generally we did some changes after Friday’s practice sessions. It was quite difficult to do the set-up because of the changing weather conditions. Some changes were in the right direction and others were not. However, my car was ok in qualifying. It will not be an easy race for us but I still hope to manage to score a point tomorrow.”

Kamui Kobayashi:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 04 / Ferrari 056)

Qualifying: 24^th/no lap time / 3^rd practice: 18^th/1:27.976 min (19 laps)

„I went out to do a first run right when Q1 started because I wanted to check another set up option. But then on the middle of the back straight the engine suddenly stopped. It was a problem with the fuel system. I hoped to make it back into the garage but I stopped before the pit lane entrance. Anyway, for me the session would have been over even if I had make it into the garage because it takes a lot of time to change the fuel system. I have to accept that it was bad luck for me and I want to do a good race tomorrow. Although I like overtaking a lot, I must admit there are an awful lot of cars between me and the first point.“

Peter Sauber, Team Principal:

“A problem in the fuel system hindered Kamui from setting a lap time in Q1. That was it for him. The result of Sergio was disappointing for me. Based on his competitive lap time in the first part of qualifying on the hard compound we expected him to make it into Q3, however, for some reason he was not able to extract the maximum from the soft tyres. We calculated a diffrerence of app. one second, but this was finally not the case.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“In the morning we carried on with the work from yesterday with some set-up changes to the cars and working still on some mechanical parts. Sergio was quite happy. We had a little bit of work to do with bouncing the car. Sergio didn’t quite get the most out of his run on the soft tyres in the morning. Kamui wasn’t particularly happy. It seemed that the consistency of the car was a bit tricky for him. Missing the soft tyre rund yesterday didn’t quite help. For qualifying we changed Kamui’s set to where he was the night before. We sent him out early to check the car, but then he had a sudden drop in fuel pressure. It looks to be fuel problem on the high pressure side which we need to investigate because it’s something we haven’t seen before. That was a shame for Kamui. That presents him with a big challenge for tomorrow, but he’s a fighter and he as a lot of new tyres. There are still opportunities int the race. Sergio’s Q1 lap was on prime tyres and was pretty competitive. In Q2 he used two sets of option tyres but he didn’t find the benefit that we needed to go through to Q3. We just found half a second of the one second plus we expected. This we need to understand. Overall a disappointing qualifying, and we need to work hard to head towards the top then as best we can.”

Kamui – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.68 MB

Peter Sauber 3543 x 2362 – 0.67 MB

Sergio – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.57 MB

credit : Sauber F1 Team

Sauber F1 Team – Turkish GP – Preview

Press release

Preview – Turkish Grand Prix

4^th Round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, 6^th to 8^th May 2011

Hinwil, 29th April 2011 – After three exciting races in Australia and Asia, the Sauber F1 Team is looking forward to travelling to a Grand Prix weekend for the first time this year with its convoy of trucks and its motorhome. Istanbul Park is a challenging circuit for the drivers and the Sauber C30-Ferrari as well as for the tyres. The target is clearly set: Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez want to fight for top ten positions again – in both, qualifying and the race.

Kamui Kobayashi (car no 16):

“After spending some time in Tokyo I’m very much looking forward to the race in Istanbul Park. It is an exciting track and one of my favourites. Last year our performance was pretty good there, and we scored our first point when I finished the race in tenth. It was a relief for us and this feeling is still a nice memory. There are a couple of high speed corners which I like, and I feel we should be quite competitive in Turkey. However, the corner I like most is the triple left hander which forms turn eight. Regarding tyre management, I find it difficult to predict how the situation will develop. The grip level at this circuit is normally very low, which means the cars tend to slide a lot. I believe it will be crucial to save the front tyres in particular so the wear is as low as possible.”

Sergio Pérez (car no 17):

“In a way I feel for me the championship is about to start now with these next races on circuits I know. I have raced at Istanbul Park twice in the GP2 series and I find the track very nice. I especially used to enjoy turn eight a lot. With the Formula One car it will, of course, be physically demanding for the neck muscles, and turn eight will also be a special challenge for the front tyres. We will have to be careful with them. In any case I’m really looking forward to the Turkish Grand Prix and I want to bag my first points.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“Istanbul Park is a good circuit, and one of the favourites with the teams and drivers. It’s quite technical and challenging. It will be another interesting event for the tyres, because the famous turn eight is one of the high speed corners of the year with the highest loading of the tyres. Although we have seen some high speed corners at the last two events, I think this is by far another step beyond that. It will be interesting to see how well the tyres cope with that in terms of wear and degradation. This could result in some alternative strategies in the race, but we will not know until we get there. The rest of the circuit is a pretty good mix of some medium speed corners and the long back straight, which could provide some overtaking opportunities. But then at the end of the lap we have a combination of three low speed corners where braking stability into them, the line through them and traction out of them is important. They are quite technical corners. Overall this track offers a good mix of different corners. We expect quite reasonable weather conditions, with it not being too hot but in a better window for us than Shanghai was. Tyre management could be the key to the weekend of the Turkish Grand Prix. As far as the car is concerned, we will have some more test items to run on Friday – some of them aerodynamic and some of them mechanical – which we hope to introduce to the car pretty soon. Apart from that it will be another weekend for us to target the top ten, both in qualifying and the race.”

Circuit	Istanbul Park / 5.338 km
Race distance	58 laps / 309.396 km
Schedule	Qualifying 14:00 hrs (11:00 GMT), Race 15:00 hrs (12:00 GMT)

Driver	Kamui Kobayashi	Sergio Pérez
Born	13.09.1986 Amagasaki (JP)	26.01.1990 Guadalajara (MX)
Marital status	Single	Single
Height / Weight	1.68 m / 58 kg	1.73 m / 63 kg
First GP	Brazil 2009, finished 9th	Australia 2011 (7th/disqualified)
GP started	24	3
Best race result	2 x 6th (UAE 2009, GB 2010)	7th (AUS 2011/disqualified)
Best qualifying	2 x 9th (MAL 2010, AUS 2011)	12th (CHN 2011)
Fastest race laps	–	–
Points in total	42 (3 in 2009, 32 in 2010)	–
Points in 2011	7	–
With 7 points the Sauber F1 Team is currently 6th in the Constructors’ Championship.

Schedule for the group interview sessions during the weekend:

Thursday:

13:30-13:40 – Sergio Pérez – TV (Spanish, then English)

13:40-13:50 – Sergio Pérez – written media (Spanish)

13:50-14:00 – Sergio Pérez – written media (English)

14:00-14:10 – Kamui Kobayashi – TV (English)

14:10-14:20 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (Japanese)

14:20-14:30 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (English)

16:00-16:20 – Peter Sauber and Monisha Kaltenborn – all media (German and English)

Friday:

16:45-16:55 – Kamui Kobayashi – TV

16:45-16:55 – Sergio Pérez – TV

Saturday:

16:45-16:55 – Kamui Kobayashi – TV (Japanese, then English)

16:55-17:05 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (Japanese)

17:05-17:15 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (English)

16:45-16:55 – Sergio Pérez – written media (Spanish)

16:55-17:05 – Sergio Pérez – written media (English)

17:05-17:15 – Sergio Pérez – TV (Spanish, then English)

17:30-17:50 – James Key – all media (English)

Sunday:

After the race the drivers will be available in the mixed zone set up by the FIA.

Peter Sauber, Monisha Kaltenborn and James Key will be available in the team’s area.

Involvement in the FIA press conference means that the group interviews will be

cancelled on the relevant day.

 

Kamui 3543 x 2362 – 1 MB

Sergio 3543 x 2362 – 0.92 MB

Spare parts Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.66 MB

credit : Sauber F1 team

Sauber F1 Team – Interview with Peter Sauber

Press release

Peter Sauber: “We’ve reached our first target, now we have to keep on improving.”

Hinwil, 21^st April 2011 – After three turbulent races in Australia and Asia, the Sauber F1 Team Principal gives his verdict on the season so far.

How would you assess the first three races from the Sauber F1 Team’s point of view?

Peter Sauber, Team Principal: “This season we wanted to have a car that would be both competitive and reliable from the outset – and we have clearly achieved this initial aim. If it hadn’t been for the oversight with the rear wings in Melbourne, our points total would be excellent; as it is, seven points is still okay. The important thing is that in each race we have been in a position to fight for World Championship points on merit. However, the race in Shanghai also showed that the competition is getting tougher. It will therefore now be even more important to continue making improvements. Several teams have announced they will be bringing extensive development packages to the next race in Istanbul, and that could certainly shake up the order once again. We have a larger update scheduled for the race in Barcelona.”

Does this mean your aims for the season have changed?

Peter Sauber: “No, that’s not the case. It remains our aim to collect points in every race and improve our position in the Constructors’ World Championship.”

How happy are you with your rookie driver Sergio Pérez?

Peter Sauber: “We knew that in Sergio we were getting a quick, young driver. Even so, with a rookie you never have a guarantee that he will be able to call on his full potential under the pressure of a race weekend. I had high expectations of Sergio, and I have to say that so far he has actually exceeded these. He not only has the ability to look after his tyres extremely well, but also drives very consistently in the races. However, Sergio is also well aware that he is at the beginning of a long learning process, part of which will be incidents like the ones last Sunday in Shanghai. I’m in no doubt that Sergio will maximise his huge potential step by step. The critical factor here is that he feels comfortable within the team and has an environment which helps him to develop as well as possible.”

How has Kamui Kobayashi risen to the challenge of his new role as team leader?

Peter Sauber: “As a general point, I would like to emphasise that our drivers are given equal treatment. But when a rookie joins the team, the longest-serving of the two drivers – that’s Kamui in this case – takes on a certain leadership role. Kamui has developed wonderfully well as a driver over the course of the last year alone, and now he is also carrying out his new role by challenging our engineers and helping them to follow the right development path. And, of course, he continues to give us a lot of pleasure with his outstanding overtaking moves out on the track. Another very important factor is that he is a true team player, and that’s something Sergio also benefits from. The two drivers really work very well together.”

What’s your view on the introduction of adjustable rear wings?

Peter Sauber: “This new element has provoked an enormous amount of debate among the drivers, team principals and fans alike. The fact is that these rear wings are working less well for some teams than others, and are therefore causing a few difficulties for some. On our cars they have worked well from the first race and do the job the FIA had in mind for them as an overtaking aid. However, in my view it’s still too early to come to a definitive conclusion. I think it would be useful if all those involved could sit down in the summer and evaluate the experiences we’ve had with them.”

How do you rate the tyre situation?

Peter Sauber: “Pirelli was given a baptism of fire; the requirements it was asked to fulfil were very tough and the amount of time for development extremely short. They were also asked to produce tyres that would wear more rapidly to inject extra excitement into the races. After three Grands Prix we should applaud Pirelli for getting to grips with this tricky challenge so impressively. Our car is very easy on the tyres, but this has not come about by chance. Our engineers started working on this issue at a very early stage and have carried out the requisite measures. And now we can enjoy the benefits of this work during races. Needless to say, the character of the races has changed markedly as a result of the frequent pit stops, and the fans and TV commentators now have quite a tough job keeping track of how the race is unfolding. The same applies for the team strategists on the pit wall.”

How would you sum up the all-round development of the Sauber F1 Team?

Peter Sauber: “The situation as a whole for our team already looks a lot healthier than it did 12 months ago. 2010 was a very difficult year for us. The transformation from a works team back to a private set-up used up a lot of our energy, and at the start of the season in particular, our results on the track were extremely poor. From this position it was also virtually impossible to find sponsors for 2011. However, our car is no longer all white and we can be proud of that. Inevitably in a team of our size – where the engineers’ ideas outweigh the resources available to them – additional financial resources are reflected directly in performance. We are therefore continuing our search for sponsors. As far as the technical side is concerned, I would like to underline that the Sauber C30-Ferrari is the first car for which James Key has been responsible. It is now a year since he joined us, and he has done a lot of very good things. On the one hand, there are the structural changes he has implemented. Equally, the car is meeting the aims he set out for it. With the C29 the main problems concerned driveability on uneven circuits and over kerbs, which could not be alleviated by mechanical adjustments to the car set-up. The C30 gives us significantly greater flexibility in terms of ride height and also has good aerodynamic efficiency. To sum up, I can say that the overall development of the Sauber F1 Team is progressing positively, but that we have to continue to work very efficiently and with great dedication against a backdrop of limited resources in order to achieve our goals for the season.” 

Peter Sauber and Kamui Kobayashi 3543 x 2362 – 0.91 MB

Peter Sauber and Sergio Pérez 3543 x 2362 – 1.1 MB

credit : Sauber F1 Team

Chinese GP – Sauber ,Race – Sunday, 17.04.2011

Press release

Chinese GP – Race – Sunday, 17.04.2011

Weather: dry and sunny, 22°C air, 26-29°C track

The Sauber F1 Team is leaving China after the third race of the 2011 season with another point thanks to a good race for Kamui Kobayashi, who finished tenth in his Sauber C30-Ferrari. It was an action packed race at the Shanghai International Circuit and Sergio Pérez was certainly part of that as, like Kamui, he was fighting from start to finish for positions. For two incidents the Mexican was penalised with a drive through and a ten second stop and go, and eventually finished 17^th.

Kamui Kobayashi: 10^th

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)

“I am very happy we were able to score at least one point today. I had a really good start and was able to make up positions. This was obviously important after not qualifying as high up as I wanted to. When I was trying to get close to Adrian (Sutil) on lap 14 we came across another car and I think the driver did not see me. We touched and this was when I got a hole in the car’s nose. Technically it was not a problem to drive with that, but practically quite a lot of dust and dirt came into the cockpit. My white overalls looked awfully dirty in the end, but this is obviously not important. I made my second pit stop a few laps earlier than originally planned, but it turned out to be okay to do the remaining 26 laps on the hard compound, although I must admit after overtaking Paul (Di Resta) three laps before the end those tyres where finished.”

                                                                                                                                                        

Sergio Pérez: 17^th 

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 02 / Ferrari 056)

“My start as such was okay, but I had a very bad first corner and lost some positions. Most importantly I’m very sorry for the accident with Adrian (Sutil) – I am sorry for him and sorry for my team. At this time in the race I wanted to get the most out of my tyres, as I was under pressure from Vitaly (Petrov), so was quite aggressive. Unfortunately I lost the rear when I was already on the inside of Adrian and crashed into him. It is a real shame because, as I said before, this weekend I felt a lot more comfortable with the car than ever before.”

 

Peter Sauber, Team Principal:

“It was an exciting race and very difficult today for us to score points. However, having said that, we are satisfied with this one point. Our car had more potential than this result shows, but both drivers got stuck in traffic for long periods during the race.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“It is nice to come away from here finishing in the points. I think it was always going to be a bit tricky from where we were on the grid, but our intention was to give it our best shot at top ten positions. Both drivers did a good job. It was unfortunate with Sergio’s incident, but we will look at that afterwards. It is only his third race so perhaps he was a bit optimistic but, other than that, again he drove a really good race and I think his pace was very good. Kamui did a great job to do a lot of laps on the hard tyre at the end. We pulled him in early and he did okay. He brought home a point for us. However, Mercedes has taken a good step forward here and is ahead of us in the championship, so we have got to react to this as best we can and have a better weekend in Turkey.“ 

Kamui – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.84 MB

Sergio – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.75 MB

credit : Sauber F1 Team

Chinese GP –Sauber , Qualifying – Saturday, 16.04.2011

Press release

Chinese GP – Qualifying – Saturday, 16.04.2011

Weather: significantly cooler but still dry, 15°C air, 22-25°C track

For the first time this year the Sauber F1 Team did not get a car into Q3, which is disappointing. Qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix turned out to be very unusual with the lap times of the first 17 cars in Q1 covered by three tenths of a second, and then a red flag interrupting Q2 shortly before the end. Sergio Pérez qualified 12^th on the Shanghai International Circuit and Kamui Kobayashi was 13^th.

Sergio Pérez:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 02 / Ferrari 056)

Qualifying: 12^th/1:36.053 min (in Q2) / 3^rd practice: 13^th/1:36,596 min (17 laps)

“Generally we made some changes to the car and I feel much more comfortable with the handling now. This explains the improvements here in Shanghai from Friday to today, but also the comparison to Malaysia. Q1 was fine for me and then in Q2 the team did a good job getting me out at the front of the queue after the red flag, but then we had to wait a while and the tyre temperatures cooled down. It is a shame because I think the changes we did for the final run would have paid off.”

Kamui Kobayashi:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)

Qualifying: 13^th/1:36.236 min (in Q2) / 3^rd practice: 12^th/1:36,582 min (18 laps)

“It is a shame not to be in Q3 for the first time this year. In Q1 it was really tight for me after I was stuck in traffic, and then was the last car to slip through into Q2. Then in Q2 I had a problem with the first set of soft tyres. I just didn’t have enough grip, and we have to find out why this was. On the second run I couldn’t make the best use of the other set because, after the red flag, we had to queue at the pit lane exit and the temperatures dropped. Also with all the traffic obviously I didn’t have the best chance to set a quick lap time. However, I believe points are still within reach as our overall performance is good.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“In general the third free practice went fine. The set up changes made over night improved the car and both drivers were much happier. However, qualifying was pretty eventful. Q1 was okay, but incredibly tight. Sergio’s laps were okay with him doing two runs, one on hard and one on soft tyres, while Kamui just did a single run. There was something like two tenths from eighth to 17^th and, while Kamui‘s lap was absolutely fine, it turned out to be a little bit too tight for the border to Q2. We felt we had the pace and the car to get to Q3, but Q2 was a bit of a drama with Vitaly Petrov stopping. The first laps didn’t come in particularly well, so we had to go again after the red flag. This was very tight because of the traffic and it was a bit tricky trying to get the tyres to warm up in those conditions. From where we are I still think we can score points, and it is a little bit of a topsy turvy grid so it will be an interesting race.” 

Kamui – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.68 MB

Sergio – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.82 MB

credit : Sauber F1 Team

Chinese GP –Sauber , 1st/2nd Free Practice – Friday, 15.04.2011

Press release

Chinese GP – 1^st/2^nd Free Practice – Friday, 15.04.2011

Weather: hazy and dusty, dry track, 26-27°C air, 29-35°C track

On a day when there was heavy smog and a slippery surface at the Shanghai International Circuit, both free practice sessions for the Chinese Grand Prix were trouble free for the Sauber F1 Team. In the morning Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez tested various items on their Sauber C30-Ferraris. In the second session it was the normal race preparation.

Kamui Kobayashi:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)

1^st Practice: 19^th / 1:43.792 min (20 laps) / 2^nd Practice: 11^th / 1:39.538 min (33 laps)

“Overall we had a reasonable pace today, but I think we can improve. We need some time to get a better set-up and adjust the balance. The grip level was very low, especially at the beginning of the day. The track is quite dusty and some parts have new tarmac, which was quite tricky. I did a long run with the soft tyres and they were all right.”

Sergio Pérez:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 02 / Ferrari 056)

1^st Practice: 7^th / 1:41.189 min (20 laps) / 2^nd Practice: 17^th / 1:39.953 min (30 laps)

“I think we have collected a lot of information today for us to analyse tonight, and this is especially from the long runs. I guess we can improve, in particular for qualifying when you need to put a single lap together. I also hope to improve in myself as, after catching a cold from the air conditioning, I haven’t felt well since the race in Malaysia, but it is getting better.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“Free practice one kicked off with different test items for each driver. We ran through some aerodynamic tests and gathered some useful data. In performance terms this session wasn’t very useful, because the track had low grip and we only ran one set of tyres on each car. In the afternoon we used four new sets of tyres and went through some set up changes to the cars in race spec. I think there is a bit of work to do on the balance of the car in sector one and, although we improved that sector a bit, it is a weak point from what we can see. I think Kamui’s time would have been better, but he made a small mistake at the end of the lap, and Sergio’s lap just didn’t quite come together, so we shall have to look at that for the soft tyre. Otherwise the cars ran reliably, but the balance here is different compared to the other two races, so it is a moving target.”

Kamui and Race Engineer Francesco Nenci 2362 x 3536 – 0.95 MB

Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.98 MB

Sergio 3543 x 2362 – 0.62 MB

credit : Sauber F1 team

Sauber C30 – Malaysian GP – Race – Sunday, 10.04.2011

Press release

Malaysian GP – Race – Sunday, 10.04.2011

Weather: hot and humid with a dry track, 28°C air, 29-31°C track

The Sauber F1 Team has scored its first points of 2011: Kamui Kobayashi finished eighth in the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang and earned four championship points. The Japanese improved from tenth on the grid thanks to a two stop tyre strategy. His first two sets were the soft compound, and so he finished the race on the harder rubber. Team mate, Sergio Pérez, didn’t make it to his second pit stop. His Sauber C30-Ferrari was hit when something fell off another car, and this caused him to retire.

Kamui Kobayashi: 8^th

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)

“I had a good car, the team did a great job, and I’m particularly happy we were able to score our first points here. The strategy with only two stops was a little bit risky, but I think it worked out quite well. The difficulty about unusual strategies is in the race you find yourself always on a different pace to the competition. I had some nice and fair battles with Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher, which I enjoyed.”

Sergio Pérez: Retired while 14th on lap 24

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 01 / Ferrari 056)

“Something came off Sébastien Buemi’s car, which was just in front of me, and hit the floor of my car. The fire extinguisher went off and the electrics cut out. It was a shame I couldn’t finish the race as the car felt good. However, we could have pitted a bit earlier for fresh tyres, but we thought we were going to have some heavy rain.“

Monisha Kaltenborn, CEO:

“It has been a very good weekend for the team, and that is all the more important because of what we experienced in the first race of the season. It showed the car we have has a lot of potential to be competitive. The drivers did excellent jobs again, and Sergio was doing a really good race until he had the incident. Kamui, of course, drove a great race and managed to do it with just two stops. We are very happy and we hope we can keep this up.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“A potentially eventful race turned into more of a normal race, because we didn’t see the rain that threatened. We decided we would target two stops because we felt we could get away with that. It was very close to three stops in terms of race time, but we felt it allowed us the opportunity to hold our position at the end of the race. Both drivers made reasonable starts. Unfortunately for Sergio, who was driving extremely well, he had an issue with his car suddenly losing power and he reported he ran over some debris. That is when the power stopped so we have to look to see if there is any damage to the car. It is a shame for him as he was in a reasonable position and, with his strategy, could have perhaps picked up a few places. Kamui’s strategy worked fine. He knew he had to conserve the tyres, so the lap times were not the quickest because we had to do long stints for a two stopper, but the result was excellent for us. We are happy to get some points after what happened in Melbourne and, if you like, this is where it starts for us.“

Kamui – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.86 MB

James Key – Monisha Kaltenborn 3543 x 2362 – 0.79 MB

Sergio – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.75 MB

credit : Sauber F1 team

Sauber C30 – Malaysian GP – Qualifying – Saturday, 09.04.2011

Press release

Malaysian GP – Qualifying – Saturday, 09.04.2011

Weather: hot and humid, dry track, 28-30°C air, 36-41°C track

For the second consecutive race the Sauber F1 Team managed to get into the final qualifying session: like in the Australian Grand Prix, it was Kamui Kobayashi who made it into the top ten. However, improving further wasn’t possible, as the Japanese driver qualified tenth in his Sauber C30-Ferrari for the Malaysian Grand Prix. His rookie team mate, Sergio Pérez, struggled a bit on his second run in Q2 and finished today’s qualifying 16^th.

Kamui Kobayashi:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)

Qualifying: 10^th/1:36.820 min (in Q3) / 3^rd Practice: 9^th /1:38.059 min (18 laps)

“I’m quite happy with today’s qualifying. Of course I was hoping to improve a bit on my very last run, especially as, unlike in Melbourne, I had a set of new soft tyres left. But I think there wasn’t more to get out of the car today. Nevertheless the team had done a very good job improving it after some problems yesterday. We found some things overnight, in free practice this morning we still struggled a bit, but then we knew what to do. It was here in Sepang last year where I reached Q3 for the first time in my F1 career. The race will be very interesting, especially in terms of tyre degradation in the heat. I am certainly aiming for points.“

Sergio Pérez:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 01 / Ferrari 056)

Qualifying: 16^th/1:37.528 min (in Q2) / 3^rd Practice: 12^th /1:38.448 min (17 laps)

“I am a bit disappointed because we had the potential for Q3 if I had got my final lap right. On my second run in Q2 I was caught in traffic on my out lap. On the flying lap sectors one and two were fine, but in sector three I had no front grip and the car was understeering a lot. Now I hope we have a good race strategy as I’m still aiming for points which, of course, is not easy from where I am starting. It will be a demanding race, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, CEO:

“Kamui did an excellent job. Sergio, like Kamui, looked good in Q2 but he just lost it on the last sector, so he could have been further up. We are happy Kamui did a great performance, and now we have to make sure Sergio gets the most out of the race the way he did in Australia.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“We went to FP3 with some changes on both cars after some of the balance difficulties we had yesterday. The problem yesterday was we didn’t get the soft tyres to work for us, but today it was different and both drivers were happier with the balance on this tyre. We just did a single run in Q1, which was enough. In Q2 Kamui had a new and a used set of tyres and Sergio had two new sets. It was a great shame for Sergio as his lap time was looking quite reasonable, but unfortunately he lost three to four tenths in the last sector. Certainly he could have been a lot closer to the top ten, but we know he is a good racer as he showed last race he can recover from that. Kamui did a great lap to get through to Q3 and then we just did a single run, which is always a little bit risky on a new tyre. I don’t think we could have gone too much further up the top ten, but maybe a bit more. We certainly can’t complain as it was a very good qualifying session again for Kamui.”

Kamui 3543 x 2362 – 1.01 MB

Monisha Kaltenborn – FIA press conference 3543 x 2362 – 0.9 MB

Sergio – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.89 MB

credit : Sauber F1 team

Sauber C30 – Malaysian GP – 1st/2nd Free Practice – Friday, 08.04.2011

Press release

Malaysian GP – 1^st/2^nd Free Practice – Friday, 08.04.2011

Weather: hot and humid, dry track, 27-32°C air, 28-47°C track

The Sauber F1 Team had a trouble-free first day of practice ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. Both drivers completed their scheduled programmes. Kamui Kobayashi, who as a mark of respect for the recent tragic events in Japan has a special helmet design, is not happy with the set-up of his Sauber C30-Ferrari, while Sergio Pérez also believes there is room for improvement for tomorrow..

Kamui Kobayashi:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)

1^st Practice: 14^th / 1:40.872 min (27 laps) / 2^nd Practice: 14^th / 1:39,398 min (29 laps)

“Although I don’t personally mind the high temperatures, they do make a difference. I can’t complain about the tyres, as they are fine despite the conditions. However, we are struggling with the set-up. Most importantly we have to improve braking stability and I think that’s what we are going to do overnight.”

Sergio Pérez:

Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 01 / Ferrari 056)

1^st Practice: 18^th / 1:41.642 min (24 laps) / 2^nd Practice: 15^th / 1:39.603 min (34 laps)

“It is obviously very hot in the car, and it is clear the race will become very demanding physically. My run with the soft tyres was not good because I had to pit after a yellow flag came out. Generally I think we have some work to do to improve the car for tomorrow.”

James Key, Technical Director:

“We had a standard programme to work through this weekend, and also two extra sets of tyres from Pirelli, which was a development tyre. We ran one set in the morning and one in the afternoon. That gave us some useful data, but I am sure also some useful data for Pirelli. It seems here with the ambient conditions and particularly the track temperature, as we thought was likely to be the case, the tyres are certainly reacting in a different way to what we have seen before. The degradation is higher and the warm up is no issue at all, as you would imagine. In the afternoon we just worked through the tyre programmes and a race run for each driver on tyres. I think we need to look carefully at the data this evening because we are losing about three tenths in the first couple of corners, and a little bit of time in the middle sector. The balance of the car in low speeds is not ideal for the drivers, so we will look at that overnight and look forward to running in free practice three with a better balanced car.”

Kamui – helmet – design for Japan 3543 x 2362 – 0.62 MB	Kamui 3543 x 2362 – 0.73 MB	Sergio – pit stop 2362 x 3536 – 0.84 MB
Sergio 3543 x 2362 – 0.9 MB

credit : Sauber F1 team

Sauber Preview – Malaysian Grand Prix

Press release

 

Preview – Malaysian Grand Prix

2^nd Round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, 8^th to 10^th April 2011

Hinwil, 1^st April 2011 – After what was a powerful but in the end disappointing start to the season in Australia, the Sauber F1 Team wants to score its first championship points at the Malaysian Grand Prix, which will be held from 8^th to 10^th April in Sepang. At the opening round in Melbourne Sergio Pérez and Kamui Kobayashi finished the race seventh and eighth respectively, but were disqualified afterwards.

Kamui Kobayashi (car no 16):

“I have good memories of the Sepang circuit since it was there I managed to get into the final qualifying session last year for the first time. After our good performance in Melbourne we are, of course, very motivated for the next race. The guaranteed higher temperatures in Malaysia, though, will make a big difference. I especially expect the tyre degradation to be significantly higher there, so this might result in different race strategies. Another challenge could be if we get a wet race, as this happens quite often in Malaysia. But we are now very confident about our performance after what we did in Melbourne.. I hope we can continue like that with our pace. The circuit is nice with a couple of high speed corners, and the layout offers more overtaking opportunities than we had in Albert Park.”

Sergio Pérez (car no 17):

“Of course I’m very motivated and looking forward to what will be my second Formula One race. I think we have a good car. It is quick enough to aim for points and it was reliable. I hope we can keep this consistency and do more good races. Now after I have my debut Grand Prix weekend behind me I know a lot better what to expect in qualifying and the race, and this gives me even more confidence. I know the Sepang circuit from a GP2 Asia race in 2009. It is physically very demanding and also quite technical. Because the circuit is long it is difficult to get a lap right there.”

Technical Director James Key:

“It’s going to be an interesting event in Malaysia after the excitement of the first race. The weather conditions could well play a significant role during the weekend. It may be very hot with another step up in track temperature, and this will be new to everyone and the tyres. Or it could be wet, which would be a completely unfamiliar situation. So we have to see what happens and try to get the best out of whatever we face. Sepang is more of a typical F1 circuit compared to Melbourne with sweeping high speed corners and some long straights that will make it interesting for overtaking. There are also some tight corners like one and two, as well as the hairpin at the end of the lap. They are all quite tricky corners.. The car will have some updates with some new bodywork at the rear and some new brake duct developments. We are looking forward to a strong result.”

Circuit	Sepang International Circuit / 5.543 km
Race distance	56 laps / 310.408 km
Schedule	Qualifying 16:00 hrs, Race 16:00 hrs local time (08:00 hrs GMT)

Driver	Kamui Kobayashi	Sergio Pérez
Born	13.09.1986 Amagasaki (JP)	26.01.1990 Guadalajara (MX)
Marital status	Single	Single
Height / Weight	1.68 m / 58 kg	1.73 m / 63 kg
First GP	Brazil 2009, finished 9th	Australia 201 (7th/disqualified)
GP started	22	1
Best race result	2 x 6th (UAE 2009, GBR 2010)	7th (AUS 2011/disqualified)
Best qualifying	2 x 9th (MAL 2010, AUS 2011)	13th (AUS 2011)
Fastest race laps	–	–
Points in total	35 (3 in 2009, 32 in 2010)	–
Points in 2011	–	–

Schedule for the group interview sessions during the weekend:

Thursday:

13:30-13:40 – Sergio Pérez – TV (Spanish, then English)

13:40-13:50 – Sergio Pérez – written media (Spanish)

13:50-14:00 – Sergio Pérez – written media (English)

14:00-14:10 – Kamui Kobayashi – TV (English)

14:10-14:20 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (Japanese)

14:20-14:30 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (English)

16:00-16:20 – Monisha Kaltenborn – all media (German and English)

Friday:

16:45-16:55 – Kamui Kobayashi – TV

16:45-16:55 – Sergio Pérez – TV

Saturday:

18:45-18:55 – Kamui Kobayashi – TV (Japanese, then English)

18:55-19:05 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (Japanese)

19:05-19:15 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (English)

18:45-18:55 – Sergio Pérez – written media (Spanish)

18:55-19:05 – Sergio Pérez – written media (English)

19:05-19:15 – Sergio Pérez – TV (Spanish, then English)

19:30-19:50 – James Key – all media (English)

Sunday:

After the race the drivers will be available in the mixed zone set up by the FIA.

Monisha Kaltenborn and James Key will be available in the team’s area.

Involvement in the FIA press conference means that the group interviews will be

cancelled on the relevant day.

 

Kamui.JPG 3543 x 2362 – 0.88 MB

Peter_Sauber_and_Sergio.JPG 3543 x 2362 – 1.1 MB

Kamui_Sauber_C30-Ferrari.JPG 3543 x 2362 – 0.95 MB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sauber , Preview – Australian Grand Prix

Press release

Preview – Australian Grand Prix

1^st Round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, 25^th to 27^th March 2011

Hinwil, 18^th March 2011 – Finally the opening race of the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship is just around the corner – the Australian Grand Prix will take place in Melbourne from the 25^th to 27^th of March. The Sauber F1 Team completed 15 days of pre-season testing, covering 5,841 kilometres with the new Sauber C30-Ferrari and drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez at the wheel. While the team is busy with preparation work and Mexico can’t wait to see the F1 debut of Sergio Pérez, the eager and happy expectation is clouded by the events in Japan.

Kamui Kobayashi:

“Of course I was very worried about my country and so went to Japan after the Barcelona test. I must say the situation is really, really bad. So many have lost their lives, become homeless, are without food and water in the cold winter, and have lost their loved ones. It is difficult to believe that a scenario worse than in any movie has become reality. We need to stay together and we need help from all over the world. I am worried the whole country could disappear – it is just too awful. Since the earthquake and the tsunami news is getting worse every day, there is nothing positive to look forward to at the moment. I feel I have to do something, I want to help – but in fact there is nothing I can do by myself. I think at least for the time being what I can do is to be focused and fully concentrate on the season’s opening race in Melbourne. Originally I was looking forward to this with great joy. Now what I really want to do is my very best to achieve a good result, which perhaps can at least give the people in Japan a little bit of hope and positive news.”

Sergio Pérez:

“Without a doubt I am also worried about the people in Japan, and I really wish them all the best. At the same time personally a dream is about to come true. I have dreamed for many years of competing in my first Formula One Grand Prix, and now it is going to happen. I am excited and I am very much looking forward to it. It will be a weekend during which I have to adapt quickly to many things – to the circuit, which is new to me, and to all the aspects of a grand prix weekend from free practice to qualifying and the race. I cannot imagine yet how it will be for me when the lights go out on Sunday, but I can’t wait to find that out. I have never been to Australia before. Of course, I have checked the circuit lay-out and other things. I understand it is a tough track, very challenging and not easy to find the limit, so it will be hard.”

Technical Director James Key:

“Everyone in the team is looking forward to starting the 2011 season in Melbourne. It’s a good track to go to for the first race. It will be interesting to see on how things develop on what could potentially be a higher track temperature, because this is something none of us have tested yet, and there are still a few unknowns in this respect. We will go with the specification of the car that we finished the Barcelona test with, with some final refinements to it after what we learned from that test.

“The format of the weekend will be somewhat different, given the fact the tyres are little less consistent than those we are used to, so this is something we need to optimize. With regard to the drivers, we’re obviously looking forward to working with Sergio at a F1 race weekend for the first time. He displayed some good progress during winter testing, and we hope we can transfer that directly to the first race weekend where the pressure of course is higher. I’m sure he can manage that. Unlike Sergio, Kamui doesn’t have to learn the track, so it will be more a case of car set up and general performance work for him. Particularly on Friday, it will be important to find the right direction. Considering the events in Japan, we know this will be a very difficult weekend for Kamui, but everybody in the team will give him all possible support.

“With regard to the track, Albert Park is half street circuit with stop start, some chicanes at the beginning and then a few medium to high speed corners in the latter part of the lap. It will be interesting because it tends to be a circuit that is hard on the rear tyres, whereas the ones we have been testing on were harder on the fronts. So the balance of the car could really change in Melbourne, and if the track temperatures are higher we’ll have to watch out for the rear tyres a little more than in testing, but this is part of the process. We go there as well prepared as possible.”

Circuit	Albert Park, Melbourne / 5,303 km
Race distance	58 laps / 307.574 km
Schedule	Qualifying 17:00 hrs, Race 17:00 hrs local time (06:00 hrs GMT)

Driver	Kamui Kobayashi	Sergio Pérez
Born	13.09.1986 Amagasaki (JP)	26.01.1990 Guadalajara (MX)
Marital status	Single	Single
Height / Weight	1.68 m / 58 kg	1.73 m / 63 kg
First GP	Brazil 2009, finished 9th	Australia 2011
GP started	21	–
Best race result	2 x 6th	–
Best qualifying	9th (Sepang 2010)	–
Fastest race laps	–	–
Points in total	35 (3 in 2009, 32 in 2010)	–
Points in 2011	–	–

Schedule for the group interview sessions during the weekend:

Thursday:

13:30-13:40 – Sergio Pérez – TV (Spanish, then English)

13:40-13:50 – Sergio Pérez – written media (Spanish)

13:50-14:00 – Sergio Pérez – written media (English)

15:00 – Kamui Kobayashi – FIA press conference

16:00-16:20 – Peter Sauber – all media (German and English)

Friday:

18:30 – Sergio Pérez – FIA press conference

19:15-19:25 – Kamui Kobayashi – TV

Saturday:

19:45-19:55 – Kamui Kobayashi – TV (Japanese, then English)

19:55-20:05 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (Japanese)

20:05-20:15 – Kamui Kobayashi – written media (English)

19:45-19:55 – Sergio Pérez – written media (Spanish)

19:55-20:05 – Sergio Pérez – written media (English)

20:05-20:15 – Sergio Pérez – TV (Spanish, then English)

20:30-20:50 – James Key – all media (English)

Sunday:

After the race the drivers will be available in the mixed zone set up by the FIA.

Peter Sauber and James Key will be available in the team’s area.

Involvement in the FIA press conference means that the group interviews will be

cancelled on the relevant day.

Kamui – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.78 MB

Sergio – Sauber C30-Ferrari 3543 x 2362 – 0.86 MB

credit : Sauber F1 team

James Key: “We will see more complicated strategies”

Press release

James Key: “We will see more complicated strategies”

Hinwil, 15^th March 2011 – Winter testing was completed last Friday and the Sauber F1 Team is looking forward to the season’s opening race in Melbourne on 27^th March. James Key, the team’s Technical Director, reflects on the pre-season tests and talks about expectations, tyres and drivers.

The team covered a total of 5,841 kilometres with the new Sauber C30-Ferrari during 15 days of testing in Valencia (3), Jerez (4) and Barcelona (8). Kamui Kobayashi was at the wheel for 2,885 km and Sergio Pérez for 2,956 km.

How well is the team prepared for the 2011 season?

James Key: “I think we are reasonably well prepared because we were able to cover quite a lot of work over the four tests. There has been a lot to learn with the new tyres and also with things like the KERS, the rear wing and the aero on the car, which we finished in Barcelona last week. The team and the drivers have done a good job in learning and understanding the way the tyres and the car are behaving with the drivers contributing a lot to the team’s understanding and directions that we need to go in.”

What is your impression in terms of reliability?

Key: “Reliability in general has been okay.. We have only had one repetitive problem and other minor issues, which occasionally pop up in testing anyway, as well as certain things that can be easily dealt with. Fundamentally the car has been reliable and there hasn’t been any great need for major re-designs or re-thinks in certain areas.”

And what do you think about the performance of the Sauber C30-Ferrari?

Key: “Performance is very difficult to judge because performance ultimately is relative to the competition. I think we have been quite honest with the way we have been testing, and ran lower fuel levels only on the last two days in Barcelona, which gave us a little bit more of an idea of where the car is. It looks quite tight but it is really difficult to judge. I think we are satisfied we have made the sort of progress we wanted to make over last year’s car in some specific areas. The good news is the fairly big update we took to the second Barcelona test for the start of the season seems to have worked the way we hoped it would. The important thing now is we continue to push and bring further updates as soon as we can. We have some big updates planned and will bring several new parts to the second race.”

How would you describe the characteristics of the new Pirelli tyres, and how will this influence future race strategies?

Key: “The characteristics are quite different to what we have been used to from the previous supplier, but I think this was by design. The tyres certainly need managing on longer runs, and I think in race conditions this is going to be crucial. There are various ways of dealing with them and we need to see how the strategy tends to emerge in the first few races to optimise that. The rear tyres are a little bit stronger than we first thought they would be. This is quite a positive thing because initially from the data they looked quite weak. In many ways the characteristics we expected from the tyres are there, so the balance of the car is close to what we expected. The tyres are quite peaky. The grip on the first lap is generally quite good, but then it needs managing. A good thing about them is there is a very clear difference between the two compounds, and that is something we have not seen in recent years.”

Will the importance of the pit crew’s work increase?

Key: “We will see more complicated and detailed strategies now. There will be more pit stops and the pit crew will be under more pressure, not just to ensure every pit stop is as quick as it can be, but also to react very quickly should the need or opportunity to change tyres comes up in a race as a much more critical part than it was before. Also for the engineers on the pit wall strategic decisions are far less predictable than before. I’m sure we will learn a lot more about how to handle it in the first few races.”

What is your impression of the team’s rookie driver Sergio Pérez?

Key: “Sergio has developed very well over the past four tests. Looking at where he started at the Valencia test in early February and where we are now after only six weeks, he has made enormous progress. He has learned an awful lot, his feedback has improved on a test by test basis, and his confidence in the car has also improved a great deal. He made a good effort when we did our race and qualifying runs with him at the last Barcelona test. He drove the car for the first time on low fuel and new tyres, and he really made good use of it by going quicker and quicker. However, it will be a very different kind of pressure at the start of the season, but so far it has worked well and now he is looking forward to the race.”

How is Kamui Kobayashi dealing with his new role in the team?

Key: “He is dealing with it very well and very professionally. He is playing a very proactive role in helping in the direction the car is developing and giving a very good driver’s perspective of where we are. He’s got a bit of work to do in adapting to the tyres, because he is used to the tyres of the previous supplier, while Sergio isn’t, so it is a little bit more difficult to adapt for a driver who was in F1 last year. But Kamui is doing a good job on that and, as we know from last year, we can rely on him in both testing and racing and it is a pleasure to work with him.”

James Key – Technical Director
3543 x 2362 – 0.8 MB

credit : Sauber F1 team

Sauber F1 Team – Test in Barcelona – Day four

Press release

Test in Barcelona – Day four

Barcelona, 11^th March 2011 – The Sauber F1 Team used the final day of pre-season testing in Barcelona for a simulation with Kamui Kobayashi at the wheel of the Sauber C30-Ferrari. The qualifying practice was completed before lunch time with the race simulation following in the afternoon.

Circuit	Barcelona / 4.655 km
Driver	Kamui Kobayashi (JP)

Weather	Overcast, then sunny, air 7-17°C, track 10-26°C
Chassis / engine	Sauber C30-Ferrari (Chassis 03 / Ferrari 056)
Mileage today	98 laps
Fastest lap	1:22,315 min (in the morning)
James Key (Technical Director)	“Today we ran a similar programme to yesterday. The morning was very productive with the track conditions for the qualifying practice quite cold and difficult compared to yesterday. In the afternoon we did a race simulation, first using old tyres and then a new set at the end. Unfortunately we suffered a drive shaft problem which stopped us some laps early. The problem still has to be investigated. Today we reached the end of winter testing and are now looking forward to the season’s opening race in Melbourne. I’d like to thank Kamui for the professionalism he has shown today.”
Kamui Kobayashi:	“I ran through the scheduled programme with a qualifying practice and almost a race distance today. But now all my thoughts are with the people in Japan. My country has suffered an enormous catastrophe. The news is depressing and I’m very sad. I can’t really put in words what I feel.”

Kamui 3543 x 2362 – 0.84 MB

Team Principal Peter Sauber 3543 x 2362 – 0.96 MB

 

credit : Sauber F1 team