Sauber’s Felipe Nasr is confident not having their 2016 car ready for the first test in Barcelona will not be ‘a big problem’ despite having very little time to test parts before the season opener in Melbourne.
Sauber announced that they would not be taking their 2016 challenger to the first test in Barcelona despite the car passing the necessary crash tests, they would instead be taking a modified version of the 2015 model with 2016 specification parts fitted.
Speaking to Motorsport.com, Nasr was confident the delay in using the new car would not hamper the team’s chances.
“It’s not ideal, but we will have a little more time to work on the new car.
“I don’t think that it will be a big problem, even though we have only four days to understand the car before going to Melbourne.
“There will be many innovations on the car, including the packaging of the Ferrari power unit. I do not expect the first steps to be easy; it will take a bit of time to optimise everything.”
Nasr also went on to say he felt the team had achieved all they could in 2015 with the limited resources and opportunities they had but they can improve further and make bigger steps throughout the 2016 season.
“Last year we finished the season with the same car with which we began in Australia, except for a few changes,” said Nasr. “There weren’t the resources to support a development programme.”
“I think we have a lot of room for improvement [for this year], and I hope we will make a big step forward.”
Sauber has failed to develop their cars adequately in previous seasons so whether they can do it this season remains to be seen.
