Marcus Ericsson has high hopes for Spa engine update & Singapore aero package; Sauber have slipped to eighth place in standings
Monday 17 August 2015 16:13, UK
Sauber have confirmed they will introduce Ferrari’s latest-specification engine onto their C34 for the Belgian Grand Prix, as they aim to re-establish themselves as regular points contenders.
After sitting as high as third place in the Constructors’ Championship at the start of the season, Sauber have slipped to eighth in the wake of a run of just three points in the last seven races. Development of the C34 has been restricted by a continued lack of funds.
But the Swiss team, who began the year with a bumper 14-point haul in Australia, are hoping to regain that lost momentum over the second half of the season courtesy of long-awaited upgrades to their package – starting with the arrival of the latest specification Ferrari engine at Spa this weekend.
Ferrari spent two engine tokens on an upgrade at June's Canadian GP, but Sauber have waited before running the more powerful power unit.
"The Belgian Grand Prix can be considered the opener of the second part of the season, in which the Sauber F1 team is looking forward to stronger performances thanks to a number of upgrades that will be progressively introduced," said Giampaolo Dall’Ara, head of track engineering.
"At Spa both C34s will be fitted with more powerful Ferrari power units and track specific wings."
Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson, who finished 10th last time out in Hungary, said: “Obviously now it’s no secret we have lost a bit of momentum and we’re struggling to keep up with the midfield pack.
“We should expect quite a big jump in the performance from the engine, which we will see more on tracks like Spa and Monza. So it’s good timing.
“Then for Singapore we have quite a few things on the aero. It’s difficult to say how much it will bring us, but it should be a decent step of lap time.”
September’s Singapore GP effectively heralds the start of 2015’s run-in, and with just 22 points separating fifth through to ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship, the success of Sauber’s aero upgrade is likely to define the success of their season.
Last month Sauber hired former Red Bull, Force India and Caterham technical director Mark Smith and Ericsson, who has already re-signed with the team for 2016, is confident they are heading in the right direction.
“I can see team are pushing hard. With Mark coming into the team, they want to obviously progress,” he said. “Already this year compared to how difficult a year they had last year we’ve made big progress and if we can continue like that we’re be in an even stronger position next year.”
Although Sauber have successfully recovered from the first score-less campaign in their history to claim 22 points so far in 2015, Ericsson admits their future potential remains closely linked to the team’s financial situation.
“It’s all going to come down to how much money we’re going to have on development,” he said when asked about the development plans for 2016. “But it’s not decided yet.”
