The winter break is a busy time for the engineers and people behind the scenes. The teams’ employees work around the clock to produce the quickest and most reliable car. Sometimes all of the work takes just a little too long and the car is not ready for the first test.
Pre-season testing kicks off in a little over a month. The first test will be held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on February 22. Unfortunately, Sauber’s 2016 challenger will not be taking part in the first test at Barcelona. Rather than skipping the test, the team has opted to run the C34, last season’s car, in the test.
However, this will not be the same C34 that we saw last season. A representative for the team was able to confirm with Racing Clothesline, that the C34 to be used in the test will be decked out in the 2016 livery. This isn’t an unusual occurrence in the sport, as a similar situation happened last season with Force India.
It has also been confirmed that the new C35 will make its testing debut in the second pre-season test. This test will also be held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but will be held the following week.
A few teams have reported an increased workload during the winter. This is probably because the 2016 season was originally set to begin in Australia at the start of April. However, it was shifted to mid-March, meaning that the teams’ development schedules have been thrown off. However, no other team has reported that they will not be running the updated car in the first test.
