Sauber launch: C21 '80% different'

With the Red Bull colour scheme remaining for another year, the two cars look almost identical, at a glance. But Rampf insisted at the team's 2002 launch today that Sauber has refused to sit on its laurels from last year when it finished a surprise fourth in the constructors' championship.

"We've set an ambitious goal to improve on the C20 in every respect," said Rampf. "One of our main aims is to reduce the weight and during the roll-out [at Barcelona last week] we struggled to find space to put the ballast in which is a great problem for an engineer.

"We've examined every concept and re-thought everything to come up with a completely new racing car."

One thing noticeably different on the new car is the lower cockpit sides. "Nick [Heidfeld] had a problem at starts seeing cars around him so we decided to make his life a little easier," explained Rampf. Another difference not visible to the naked eye is the new gearbox which was needed to fit the team's Petronas-badged Ferrari engines. This year Sauber will use the 2001-spec Ferrari motor, which is lower in the car than the 2000 unit used last season.

First impressions at Barcelona were good. "We set good times without major problems," Rampf added. "We believe the concept of the C21 has exceeded many of our expectations."