Sauber believes that they have been able to fix a number of shortcomings of the C45

      Until recently, Sauber was chronically lagging even behind the teams in the middle of the peloton, but at the Spanish Grand Prix, Nico Hulkenberg took 5th place, including ahead of Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton. This was made possible by the aggressive modernization program of the C45 chassis: the car has a completely new bottom and diffuser, an updated engine casing and a number of other components.

      Inaki Rueda, the sporting director of the Swiss team, explained that the changes were primarily aimed at eliminating the shortcomings identified during the pre-season tests in Bahrain.

      "The changes were aimed at creating a more stable downforce," Rueda is quoted as saying on the championship's official website. – In a wind tunnel, you get maximum downforce at a certain ground clearance height. But in the course of such studies, it is very difficult to achieve effective operation of the aerodynamic body kit in the intermediate phases, i.e. when the car overcomes turns, moves close behind another car or is under the influence of a crosswind.

      Hopefully, the updated version of the body kit will generate downforce in a more predictable way, and this will give the riders confidence.…

      But this is typical for many championship teams: you try to increase downforce, but you get even more unstable aerodynamic performance. That is, the level of downforce is not bad, but at the same time you start having problems with handling in difficult conditions.

      All this was evident in the very first tests of the C45, and the latest set of updates allowed us to fix these shortcomings."

      Now the team hopes that at the Canadian Grand Prix it will be possible to achieve effective operation of new products and compete for points.