Valencia was the centre of attention again for F1 fans as BMW Sauber revealed its 2010 Formula One race car last week. Making them the third team to parade their 2010 cars at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit this year.
This is the first time that the BMW titled C29 F1 Car, with its Swiss outfit, will be powered by a Ferrari engine. The most striking feature of the new car is the shark fin engine cover, which seems to have taken design cues from the McLaren Mercedes. This year the nose design has also been altered which now looks quite similar to the nose design of RB5 car from Red Bull.
"Although the team was going through hard times", said the team owner Peter Sauber, "The technical preparation of the 2010 car has not been interrupted and has proceeded according to plan since the spring of 2009". He also mentioned the team's long tradition of bringing together an up-and-coming youngster and an experienced racer as their driver combination.
According to him this practice has brought a lot of success to them. Technical director Willy Rampf adds that experience from last year and the improvement in performance over the third final season has led to build a better team this year. Regarding the design changes, Rampf explained that due to the new regulations banning refueling during the race and stipulating a reduced width for the front tyres, considerable changes were made to the car's design.
