Sauber C31 launch – first pictures and video of Sauber’s 2012 F1 car

2012 F1 cars

6th February 2012, 10:021st February 2022, 15:42 | Written by Keith Collantine

Sauber have unveiled their contender for the 2012 F1 championship.

Advert | Become a Supporter & go ad-free

The C31 was revealed today in Jerez and will be driven by Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez this season.

Sauber finished seventh in the championship last year. However just days before the launch of their new car the team announce technical director James Key, who had been with them since 2010, was leaving the squad.

Chief designer Matt Morris says the team’s 2012 F1 car is a combination of new ideas and concepts developed from its predecessor.

Following the launch of the Sauber C31 in Jerez, Morris said: “The C31 is revolutionary where we had fresh ideas, particularly at the rear of the car, and it is an evolution where we knew we could carry over certain approaches. We had to improve on the weaknesses we identified on the C30, but at the same time we wanted to maintain its strengths.

“We had established some good directions to go in towards the end of last year with the C30 which we wanted to continue with, particularly some of our DRS developments, and some of the ways we were opting for with the car’s set up in order to improve our qualifying performance without compromising our race pace.”

Morris added he expects the ban on exhaust-blown diffusers to help the team: “Because of the new definition in the rules we know that the disadvantages we had last year with a lack of the strong exhaust effect will be less of an issue for us now. As a result we evolved further our directions from C30 regarding the overall aero development of the car.”

He added the car “will look quite different in Melbourne” once further upgrades are added to it.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Sauber C31 pictures

Kamui Kobayashi driving the Sauber C31

2012 F1 cars

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Browse all 2012 F1 cars articles

Author information

Keith Collantine

Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...
Read more about Keith Collantine, find all their articles and get in touch with them

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

132 comments on “Sauber C31 launch – first pictures and video of Sauber’s 2012 F1 car”

damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
6th February 2012, 10:04

No Sauber! :( I’m gutted to see they’ve changed their livery. My opinion isn’t too popular on this, but last year’s Sauber was one of the best looking cars I’ve ever seen for both shape and livery. I don’t know what it was about it, but I just loved the look of it. It looked like a missile or something. This isn’t exactly ugly, but it’s no-where near as good as the car they had last year. I’m disappointed. If they absolutely had to change the livery, I think they should have gone with something a bit more fun. All they’ve done is ruin it. :(

At least the shape isn’t too bad. Very interesting engine cover!
1. jsw11984 (@jarred-walmsley)
  6th February 2012, 10:14
  
  I agree, I liked last years Sauber, this just looks plain and boring, no front on shots so I can’t really comment on the nose, but they obviously have the step, I just hope its worked into both the body and the livery nicely. And they really need a main sponser to fill the side pod.
2. S.J.M (@sjm)
  6th February 2012, 10:17
  
  The cover seems interesting… but those side pods are pratically non-existant. They are tiny! Does the Ferrari lump at the back need any air at all?
3. ivz (@ivz)
  6th February 2012, 10:19
  
  I think the extra black makes it a bit more tough looking…….or maybe that’s the wheels.
  Also, is that the white (medium) tyres they have on? They decided to match the colours lol.
  1. Joey-Poey (@joey-poey)
    6th February 2012, 14:06
    
    I’m with you. It feels so much more aggressive with this livery. I love it.
4. TommyB (@tommyb89)
  6th February 2012, 10:41
  
  Urgh they’ve made the livery worse! It’s like they decided to paint the whole thing black but gave up when they got to the middle.
  1. damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
    6th February 2012, 10:55
    
    I’ve softened to it already. I think it was the initial shock and disappointment of seeing they’d changed the livery that made me type such a negative comment, but I actually… kind of like it now!
    
    The nose isn’t actually that bad (although I’m inclined to say anything looks good when it doesn’t have a nose as hideous as Ferrari’s) and the step doesn’t seem to be as noticeable as it is on other cars. Overall, I think this is the best shape we’ve seen so far, and the livery is growing on me. If there was a smoother transition between the grey and the white, it would probably go a long way towards making it look better. The sidepods also need a bit more colour. If the grey from the back end of the engine cover curved around to the sidepods, it might improve its overall appearance. Otherwise, I think a simple sponsor logo would enhance the plain sides of the car.
    
    I’d quite like to see the Sauber completely grey, however. The wind tunnel model of the C30 looked very smart in grey, actually. I still think I preferred their livery last year.
    1. wificats (@wificats)
      6th February 2012, 11:32
      
      Grey would be awesome, a bit like the classic black and white Sauber livery in 1993/4 when they first entered the sport.
    2. DJ
      6th February 2012, 17:06
      
      Looks more like black to me…
      
      The livery reminds me of a cow, that was my first impression. The NEC and Claro logo might not work well with a full black car. Although it would have been better to go full black, but Peter Sauber stated he likes white. So I don’t know why the car is now only 1/3 white. Although he mentioned the cars would be hard to tell apart with white. So they kind of made a compromise.
      
      Would be interesting to see in full black…
5. Solo (@solo)
  6th February 2012, 10:46
  
  Dude you don’t get it. Making the nose black was a stroke of genius. It really lessens the ugliness of the nose and making you focus your eyes in the brighter areas away from it.
6. Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
  6th February 2012, 11:07
  
  agree… what a lame paint job. It’s just a mess of stickers and two bits of grey…
  
  And the car itself doesn’t look particularly pretty either…
  1. airbrick
    6th February 2012, 11:20
    
    Also agree. The livery is just awful
7. Lachie (@lachie)
  6th February 2012, 11:37
  
  I’ll be completely honest, I couldn’t tell the difference in the livery until I went to Google to check. I see the difference now but be it 2011 or 2012 the livery looks boring as hell. Half black, half white just the line is in a different spot.
8. MaroonJack (@maroonjack)
  6th February 2012, 11:56
  
  Actually I like the new livery more. I’m also warming up to the ugly stepped noses. I think these two things combined make the car look very aggressive.
9. Bleeps_and_Tweaks (@bleeps_and_tweaks)
  6th February 2012, 15:01
  
  I was literally about to write exactly the same post @damonsmedley I distinctly remember someone senior at Sauber saying that the livery was going to be ‘something special’ in 2012…looks like they forgot.
  
  I was hoping for the old blue/yellow design.
  1. DJ
    6th February 2012, 16:59
    
    You do realise the Red Bull/Petronas age is over and they have no reason to paint it that way again?
10. Estesark (@estesark)
  6th February 2012, 16:46
  
  I think this is the ugliest car to be revealed so far.
11. Pika
  6th February 2012, 17:34
  
  Well, I think last year’s Sauber was one of the worst looking if not the worst. The new paint job looks much more agressive. I really love the black rims.
Stephen Jones (@aus_steve)
6th February 2012, 10:05

whoa, it’s totally black! and white! looks kinda empty in the middle though.. they need a primary sponsor
1. damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
  6th February 2012, 10:25
  
  Yeah, the absence of the ‘Sauber Club One’ logo that was seen on the sidepods of the C30 is very noticeable. Hopefully someone can ‘shop it on and we’ll see if it looks any better!
2. Solo (@solo)
  6th February 2012, 11:03
  
  When a team that did relatively decent can’t get a decent sponsor to put on the side of the car it shows that ether smaller teams have a bad marketing department or that it’s really too hard to get a good sponsor.
  Do you have to be a top 3 team to get a main sponsor now?
3. OmarR-Pepper (@)
  6th February 2012, 18:10
  
  Sponsored by the film Kung Fu Panda or maybe the WWF
ivz (@ivz)
6th February 2012, 10:05

Aggressive nose like the Ferrari. The black hides it a bit though.
1. Solo (@solo)
  6th February 2012, 11:05
  
  Very clever that black. The man who thought it should get a bonus.
  1. UKFan (@)
    6th February 2012, 18:30
    
    I agree it takes away the attention from the nose if it were white it would shine like owen wilsons nose.
2. Michel S. (@hircus)
  6th February 2012, 11:35
  
  Without the paint scheme, I think Ferrari actually had a better-looking nose, as far as these platypus monstrosities go. And Force India’s look a bit better still.
  
  Let’s see what RBR rolls out in 1.5 hours — hopefully something different. So far we have a conservative-looking nose (McLaren) and … the platypuses. Looking forward to something genuinely innovative.
  1. MW (@)
    6th February 2012, 12:04
    
    My bet is the RBR “nose solution” will have something along the lines of the Lotus and of course Toro rosso will follow suit..
    It would be great if they came up with something completely different though.. Like a corkscrew nose (patent pending !)
TheJudge (@thejudge)
6th February 2012, 10:06

The livery looks a bit like the first HRT. But the design of the car looks much more agressive and different to what we saw on the C30. I’m not talking about the nose,but the rear end engine cover and the wing itself
1. Solo (@solo)
  6th February 2012, 11:10
  
  I agree it looks like they really improved it in all aspects. It looks like it will be a good improvement aerodynamically from last year.
  The problem is how are they going to proceed now that Key left them. Is it going to affect the during the year?
SouthAussie94 (@mpj1994)
6th February 2012, 10:06

As much as I love Sauber, sorry but that is plain HIDEOUS!!!
McGregski (@mcgregski)
6th February 2012, 10:07

Sauber’s always look unfinished at their launches… you could confuse this for an HRT with the lack of sponsorship or imagination

Hopefully it will be a bit more ‘sponsored’ by the time we get to AUS
1. peru-kowalsky
  6th February 2012, 12:52
  
  i don’t agree about hrt. The livery last year was good, lack of sponsors aside, with the checkered flag, and colors.
TheNikii (@thenikii)
6th February 2012, 10:08

Another broken nose. Is it McLaren or everybody else who got it wrong?
1. Martin Rasmussen (@floptickle)
  6th February 2012, 10:10
  
  Time will tell :)
2. McGregski (@mcgregski)
  6th February 2012, 10:10
  
  fingers crossed – everyone else! :)
3. Ady (@ady)
  6th February 2012, 10:20
  
  McLaren’s typically have a low nose compared to others anyway. The “vein” that sits under the nose could go a long way to mitigate the issues of a low nose.
  
  Also McLaren want to boost sales of the MP4-12C, and having the only car on the grid that doesn’t look ugly could be a good strategy.
  1. sato113 (@sato113)
    6th February 2012, 10:41
    
    Also McLaren want to boost sales of the MP4-12C, and having the only car on the grid that doesn’t look ugly could be a good strategy.
    
    you’re joking right?
  2. dennis (@dennis)
    6th February 2012, 10:51
    
    I had to laugh at this…
    
    But it raises an interesting point. Back when the SLR came out, Mercedes decided to slap that faux-F1-nose on that, and the SLK… Just because of perversion I want to see a Ferrari Enzo successor with the stepped nose.
    1. topdowntoedown (@topdowntoedown)
      6th February 2012, 12:45
      
      The MP4-12C already has a flappy rear wing.
      
      OK, so it’s for braking rather than DRS, but still. ;)
      1. dennis (@dennis)
        6th February 2012, 13:02
        
        The 458 Italia has Red Bull’s flexy front wing… Sort of. :P
4. moonlight (@prdsh)
  6th February 2012, 10:20
  
  wait till redbull car launch..
5. Funkyf1 (@funkyf1)
  6th February 2012, 10:23
  
  Ron Dennis hasn’t slept! Whitmarsh hasn’t been seen or heard of and rumour has it, Jenson and Lewis both went and purchased electric sanders and have been googling pictures of Alain Prost’s nose.
6. WillP
  6th February 2012, 10:26
  
  I honestly think that the Red Bull launch will tell us. If Adrian Newey thinks something is a good idea, it rarely isn’t!
  
  So if Red Bull turn up with a Ferrari style nose, McLaren may be sweating a little bit.
  1. Funkyf1 (@funkyf1)
    6th February 2012, 10:28
    
    Nobody nose what Adrian nose! :)
    1. GeeMac (@geemac)
      6th February 2012, 10:58
      
      I see what you did there…
7. James Brickles (@brickles)
  6th February 2012, 11:06
  
  Hopefully everybody else ;)
8. Solo (@solo)
  6th February 2012, 11:16
  
  I think no one got it wrong or right. Mclaren can simply do that because the aerodynamic path they where on was a different path from Red Bull and most of others that followed the example of Red Bull.
  Even there last year nose was low enough to get through the regulations and that car was the second best.
  I don’t think that if Mclaren end-up being not very good it will especially because of the nose.
  If they are the fastest though then many will start wondering.
  1. Mike (@mike)
    6th February 2012, 13:55
    
    I think that, even if Mclaren lose to Red Bull, I think it shows to the strength of the team that they can go in a completely different direction to Red Bull and still produce competitive cars.
9. Funkyf1 (@funkyf1)
  6th February 2012, 12:16
  
  McLaren, though, are keeping their secrets well hidden – at least for now.
  
  “Our exhaust was made of plastic, you will never see these components in this form again,” Whitmarsh admitted to Auto Moto und Sport.
  
  “The new car will not look the same in Jerez and in the season opener in Australia it will look very different.
  
  “We spent the week in Idiada (Spain) doing an aero test on a series of new parts for the car that were on it in Woking.”
10. McLaren23
  6th February 2012, 12:37
  
  McLaren does not have a broken nose,Everyone with the stepped nose is
moonlight (@prdsh)
6th February 2012, 10:10

stepped nose… more like ferrari type….
Todfod (@todfod)
6th February 2012, 10:11

Sauber and Ferrari are now tied for the ugliest nose of 2012.

Sauber really looks like they cut some expenditures in the livery department.
1. Dphect (@dphect)
  6th February 2012, 11:52
  
  Yep, and the diagonal parts of the livery aren’t even at the same angle – which looks odd to me!
  
  The rest of the bodywork looks pretty bloody mean though.
Slr (@slr)
6th February 2012, 10:11

Well I hope it’s quick, though the livery I’m not sure about.
Ryan Williams (@)
6th February 2012, 10:12

Nose looks similar to that on the Caterham. Personally, I think it’s one of the prettiest cars so far, second to the Lotus. The livery is okay but Sauber could’ve gone for something more colourful, like what they ran in 2004/05
Tom (@tomforpresident)
6th February 2012, 10:12

things that make you go hmm?
1. Dphect (@dphect)
  6th February 2012, 11:55
  
  Hmmmmmmm…
James
6th February 2012, 10:13

I can’t believe how many of the cars have that ridiculous nose, I was hoping it’d just be Caterham making a huge mistake! … This livery is nice though, I like! :)
Silverkeg (@silverkeg)
6th February 2012, 10:15

That livery is simply awful. Very dissapointed.

The car itself is interesting. The rear of the engine cover looks different, small sidepods.

Not a fan of Sauber though, hopefully can’t match the Force India.
1. Magnificent Geoffrey (@magnificent-geoffrey)
  6th February 2012, 16:35
  
  @Silverkeg That’s it. I’m kicking you out of the Collantine Cup for that! :P
  1. xxiinophobia (@xxiinophobia)
    6th February 2012, 23:44
    
    @magnificent-geoffrey Loving your new avatar. I see what you did there. :D
2. DJ
  6th February 2012, 17:03
  
  The FI actually looks good, but now, I just hope they fail:P
Eggry (@eggry)
6th February 2012, 10:17

I don’t care nose much since Ferrari, but the livery is horrible.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
6th February 2012, 10:17

First though: They really haven’t made that livery work with the sponsorship.
1. dennis (@dennis)
  6th February 2012, 10:34
  
  @keithcollantine
  
  And that with the little amount of sponsors there are.
  I’m usually a fan of simple race designs, like the Gulf Porsches, Oreca Vipers, or the Gitanes Matras… However, gray has never really been a race car colour. And mixed with the vast amount of differently coloured sponsors, as you mentioned, it all fals apart really.
  
  Even worse, I don’t think there’s a connection whatsoever between the car and the sponsoring.
  
  If you ask me in a week or 2 what’s the sponsor’s name on the airbox of the Sauber I probably won’t know.
ElBasque
6th February 2012, 10:17

i like it
just.daz (@nemo87)
6th February 2012, 10:18

urmm.. always loved how deep sauber make the overhead air intake but other than that. meh..

really hoping mclaren have done a red bull this year and found something that the other teams ahvent with their front end..
matt90 (@matt90)
6th February 2012, 10:19

I hated last years Sauber, but this is even worse. They’ve even managed to make the livery worse, and that was the the least imaginative part of the car already last year.
GeeMac (@geemac)
6th February 2012, 10:23

I wanted Suaber to paint the car black again…but I meant paint the whole thing black, don’t just get bored at the suspension mounts and give up! Worst F1 livery for a looooong time!
kkierann
6th February 2012, 10:23

I like the livery this year, a lot cleaner than last year.
rfs (@rfs)
6th February 2012, 10:23

Does anyone else feel like they’re getting accustomed to the stepped noses already? :s
1. bearforce1
  6th February 2012, 10:29
  
  nope, not even a little.
2. damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
  6th February 2012, 10:38
  
  I think I am, actually.
dennis (@dennis)
6th February 2012, 10:23

Interesting wheel design.
The rest is rather… Unsurprising. I wonder if they keep the exhaust like that, as it seems like they neither try to aim for the rear wing, nor the brake winglets.
Tom (@tomforpresident)
6th February 2012, 10:24

livery aside, from the step nose back i think it looks like a neat little package, i like it, just not to look at.
McG (@mcg)
6th February 2012, 10:27

Would it be rude if I was sick all over myself?
1. McLarenFanJamm (@mclarenfanjamm)
  6th February 2012, 12:32
  
  No. It would be rude if you were sick all over someone else though.
soundscape (@)
6th February 2012, 10:31

Like or dislike aside, I think the car looks… slow. Something about that front angle, and the lines over/around the side-pods. Something’s just off about it.
Ady (@ady)
6th February 2012, 10:31

I assume the round ‘hoop’ on the sidepod (next to the barge boards) are designed to create a vortex next to the side pod. If this helps suck more air to the rear of the car to generate more downforce, expect other teams to copy it before the season start.
vjanik
6th February 2012, 10:36

i cant wait for testing to start, because we will finally stop talking about how the cars look. (i hope at least to some extent)

its like discussing Footballer’s hairstyles before the season. i’m not really that interested.
1. JK (@justingt5)
  6th February 2012, 10:41
  
  Good point
2. dennis (@dennis)
  6th February 2012, 10:45
  
  I think Peter Sauber’s hairstyle is by far the most aerodynamic.
3. Funkyf1 (@funkyf1)
  6th February 2012, 10:54
  
  Great point! As we should all know by now, most of the teams are either disguising or hiding all their secrets anyway.
JK (@justingt5)
6th February 2012, 10:40

Im amazed how many people are colour blind saying there is too much “black” when quite clearly its a shade of dark metallic Grey.

I like it, its clean and simple. Loving the engine cover, and that front wing looks interesting (if not new I had not spotted it before) it has 2 sections towards the outer edges which curve upwards and inwards towards the rear of the wing directing air inboard of the front tyres.
1. Tom (@tomforpresident)
  6th February 2012, 10:51
  
  @justingt5 i believe they like to call it ‘graphite’
sato113 (@sato113)
6th February 2012, 10:42

can’t make my mind up about this one. shame they got rid of those chunky wheel rims they used last year. they were cool.
The Edge (@the-edge)
6th February 2012, 10:49

oh well…at least Ferrari aren’t going to have the fugliest car of the year after all

this 1 really takes the biscuit!
Chris
6th February 2012, 10:52

The more of these stepped noses I see coming out from under the veils, the more I wonder if McLaren’s choice to be different is simply due to a desire to have a pretty car rather than for performance reasons
1. N
  6th February 2012, 10:56
  
  Argh, i wish people would stop this nonsense.
  
  Mclaren have ran a lower bulkhead/nose than anyone for the past couple of seasons. Everyone who is going with this stepped nose now, are the ones who ran higher bulkheads/noses in previous seasons. Its just a design philosophy, neither is going to be a game changer. Mclaren are just doing what they know works with their car already.
  1. BBT (@bbt)
    6th February 2012, 11:10

New on RaceFans

Sauber C31 pictures

Kamui Kobayashi driving the Sauber C31

Author information

Keith Collantine

132 comments on “Sauber C31 launch – first pictures and video of Sauber’s 2012 F1 car”