The Sauber C24 was the car with which the Sauber team competed in the 2005 Formula One World Championship.
The C24 was driven by Jacques Villeneuve and Felipe Massa, the first time Sauber had a non-European driver lineup. The team did not have a test driver. Sauber finished eighth in the Constructors' Championship scoring just 20 points - the team's lowest finish since 2000 season largely due to the team struggling to adapt with Michelin tyres due to the C24 chassis initially being designed around Bridgestone tyres.
Overview
The Sauber C24 was supposed to be launched in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 11 January to mark the 10th anniversary of Petronas, but the launch was cancelled due to the Asian tsunami disaster in 2004. This car was the first completely designed with the team's new wind tunnel at Hinwil. The engine was a Petronas 05A 3.0 V10.
Sponsorship and livery Sauber went into 2005 season with sponsorship continuity. The livery had a sponsorship change with Red Bull sponsorship departing to Red Bull Racing after a nine-year alliance with Sauber. The front nose livery was changed to blue due to usage of Michelin Tires, previously the nose livery was white in 2001-2004 seasons. The team's main sponsor was Credit Suisse.
At the Malaysian Grand Prix, both cars sported a Malaysian flag on the engine cover.
Sauber C24B The Sauber team was taken over by BMW for the 2006 season. A C24B variant of the car fitted with BMW's P86 V8 Formula One engine was used in early testing between the 2005 and 2006 seasons in the hands of Nick Heidfeld and Jacques Villeneuve. On 27 November 2005, Heidfeld attended a Sauber seat fitting with his former boss Peter Sauber. On 28 November-2 December 2005, Heidfeld attended off-season testing at Barcelona in a C24B car using Michelin tyres. On 7–17 December 2005, Heidfeld and Villeneuve attended off season testing at Circuito de Jerez with the same car. Just before the launch of BMW Sauber F1.06, Heidfeld attended off-season testing with C24B car in a full white interim livery on 10–13 January 2006.
Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Points WCC 2005 Sauber Petronas Petronas V10* AUS MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER HUN TUR ITA BEL BRA JPN CHN208th Jacques Villeneuve 13 Ret 11† 4 Ret 11 13 9 DNS 8 14 15 Ret 11 11 6 12 12 10 Felipe Massa 10 10 7 10 11† 9 14 4 DNS Ret 10 8 14 Ret 9 10 11 10 6 * denotes Ferrari engine badged as Petronas
References