Sauber introduces new floor and sidepods to improve downforce consistency. Sauber introduced a new floor and sidepods at the Spanish GP to improve aerodynamic balance.

Sauber debuted a new floor and new sidepods on Hulkenberg’s car during Free Practice 1 at Montmelo. Bortoleto ran the standard car for comparison and will receive the new parts from tomorrow. The goal of the new package is to produce downforce that gives the drivers more confidence.

Like almost all other F1 teams, Sauber arrived at Montmelo in Barcelona with a new front wing to comply with the flexing limits introduced by the FIA’s new inspections. But this is just one part.

The Swiss team actually brought a package of updates that go far beyond the front aerodynamic appendage. The two most visible parts are located in the central-rear section of the chassis.

This weekend, Mattia Binotto’s team showed up with a new floor and new sidepods, which are expected to provide better performance for Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto.

“The front wing is only 10% of the updates we are bringing here. We are only making the front wing stiffer. And you won’t see any difference compared to the previous one because it’s a structural change,” said Inaki Rueda, Sauber’s current sporting director.

“In fact, we brought quite a large update package here in Barcelona. We have a completely new floor. We also have new sidepods that fit the new floor.”

“Honestly, we don’t expect huge performance gains from this update. The biggest improvement will come from making the car more drivable.”

Today, the differences in shape between the two Sauber cars on track are quite clear because Nico Hulkenberg is testing the updates while Gabriel Bortoleto continues with the standard car for comparison. The Brazilian will get the updates starting from Free Practice 3 tomorrow.

“The goal of these updates,” Rueda continued, “is to have a more uniform aerodynamic load. Usually, a car is designed to generate maximum aerodynamic load, but that is what you see in the wind tunnel. When you test it in the tunnel, you usually get a correct ride height along with other setups. What is difficult to design in the wind tunnel are the transients.”

“What do I mean by transients? For example, when a car encounters a gust of wind on track (wind peak). This new package obviously produces a bit more downforce, but what we hope gives us an advantage is more predictable downforce for the driver. That’s an aspect that can’t be controlled in the wind tunnel. You can simulate it, but not in the tunnel. And that is what this main update is targeting,” concluded the former Ferrari team member.