The Sauber C29 (also known as BMW Sauber C29)[1] was a Formula One racing car which was used by the BMW Sauber F1 Team in the 2010 Formula One season. It was unveiled on January 31, at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.[2]
This was the first Sauber Formula One car that fully utilized Ferrari engine since the Petronas-badged C24 in 2005.
The chassis was designed by Willy Rampf, Christoph Zimmermann, Pierre Waché and Seamus Mullarkey with the car being powered with a customer Ferrari engine.
In Australia, Sauber announced plans to run their car with an F-duct system, similar to the version used on the McLaren MP4-25, in the free practice sessions.[3]
In the early part of the season, the car demonstrated very poor reliability and it was not until the seventh round of the year that the team scored a point with Kamui Kobayashi taking 10th in Turkey. In the second half of the year, the car gradually improved to a very respectable level and the team finished the season with 44 points, taking eighth in the Constructors' Championship.
With a lack of main sponsors, the C29 sported the team's colours and the drivers' names and flags during its launch and first test.[4] In the third test session they moved the names and wrote the message "See you in Bahrain March 12–14" on the car's engine cover.[5] At the start of 2010, the car had no sponsors, only the driver's name and nationality on the bodywork. As the year progressed, the team gained sponsors, including Burger King, Mad-Croc Energy Drink, スカルプ D ("Scalp D"), Takata, Certina, Bridgestone, Onegai My Melody, Mitsubishi Electric and Converse.[6] [7] [8]
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 BHR | 2 AUS | 3 MAL | 4 CHN | 5 ESP | 6 MON | 7 TUR | 8 CAN | 9 EUR | 10 GBR | 11 GER | 12 HUN | 13 BEL | 14 ITA | 15 SIN | 16 JPN | 17 KOR | 18 BRA | 19 ABU | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMW Sauber F1 Team | Ferrari 056 V8 | Ret | 12 | DNS | Ret | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | 12 | Ret | 14 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 44 | 8th | ||||||||
| Nick Heidfeld | Ret | 8 | 9 | 17 | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Kamui Kobayashi | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 12 | Ret | 10 | Ret | 7 | 6 | 11 | 9 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 7 | 8 | 10 | 14 |