C21 Almost a Completely New Car, Says Rampf

Sauber's new C21 is a major improvement on the car which earned the team fourth place in the manufacturers' championship last year, according to the team's technical director Willy Rampf.

Rampf revealed that the Swiss-based team's new car is 80 per cent new compared to last year's C20, with major aerodynamic improvements. The technical director also said that the team have reduced the weight of the car massively, adding that they ran a big risk when designing the new machine.

"We set some very ambitious goals to improve the C20 on every aspect," Rampf said at the launch of the new car in Zurich on Friday. "We asked every designer to rethink every component so it is virtually a new car.

"We ran the risk by trying to create a virtually new vehicle. We have made improvements on aerodynamic efficiency and one big goal was to reduce the weight of the car. We've achieved that and in fact surpassed expectations, so much so we had a problem on where to put the ballast. The roll-out was very positive."

The C21 also features a new shape to the air in-take outlet, and the sidepods have been raised because the Ferrari engine, which now has a lower centre of gravity, needs extra cooling. In addition, the cockpit has also been lowered after German Nick Heidfeld complained last season that he was unable to see other cars around him.

Sauber will test two C21's at Barcelona next week as both Heidfeld and Brazilian new-boy Felipe Massa aim to familiarize themselves with the new car.