Photo: Stake launches its new identity for 2024 F1 season

Darshan Chokhani

11 months ago

Stake F1 Team had a special London launch of its 2024 season with a new livery reveal via the streaming platform KICK.

Sauber Motorsport had a special launch in London where it showcased its new identity under the ‘Stake F1 Team’ guise in the presence of Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu and Alessandro Alunni Bravi along with James Key and media.

The expected colours of black and green formed the brand new Stake F1 Team livery, going in line with the title sponsor’s corporate colours. The green has been termed as ‘Fluo Racing Green’ livery which has been worked upon by the team and BASF.

Stake noted down some of the changes abode the C44. “The most visible, and perhaps most consequential, is the shift to a new pull-rod front suspension, compared to the push-rod system sported on the C43: the shift is testament to the solid work produced by the team in Hinwil, which committed vast resources to it, and is driven mostly by the desire to unlock the aerodynamics benefits of the pull-rod arrangement,” it said.

“The C44 sports also an aggressively redesigned aero package, with marked development evident in the sidepods and engine cover, which are taking existing concepts to new extremes and display the team’s ability to package the car in reduced spaces, a change that also required the redesign of many of the car’s internals; and a completely new floor, a key area to generating downforce.

“And, with the new development avenues opened by the choices made in the creation of the C44, the design team is already busy finalising some important updates that will be brought to track in the opening rounds of the championship, as the team intends to be a strong player in the development race.”

The C44 will have its first track run this Friday in a shakedown at Barcelona before its travel to Bahrain for the official pre-season test. “The new C44 definitely feels different, both in terms of looks and of what we can expect from the car,” said Bottas. “We need to perform as a team and extract the most out of this package, which has some impressive potential – nothing else matters.

“Personally speaking, going into the third season together with a team, the objectives need to be lofty. My own expectations are high, we definitely need to make a good step and see good progress from last year, a season in which, in all honesty, we didn’t meet the targets that we set for ourselves. We need to fix that now, we need to step up our game and do better, but I have seen some real enthusiasm back in Hinwil and I am confident we can do it.”

Teammate Guanyu stated: “First, you know, you can’t miss the colour! It’s a very exciting new approach, especially in Formula One. And then from my side, of course, we’re hoping to be a fast one. We’ve been putting in a lot of effort since the last season, especially in the second half of the year, after the summer break, just to make sure that we’re understanding exactly where we had to improve as a team and what the plan for the guys back in the factory would be for the winter: now is the time to put everything together and get the car on track.

“The expectations are high but, at the same time, we won’t know where we really stand until we start competing against our rivals. Still, a lot of effort went into the new car and I’m excited to drive it soon.”

From the team’s side, Bravi noted: “The new car we unveiled today, the C44, is a tribute to the work done by James Key and the technical team, and to every man and woman in Hinwil, who all contributed to the car we see today. Witnessing the launch of a new car is always a special moment, and even more so when it marks the start of a new era, that of Stake F1 Team. We have a fresh new identity and we are excited about everything we have planned, on and off the track: today, though, it is all about the C44 and its potential.

“We are confident about this car and our team: we won’t speak about specific targets, because it’s always difficult to commit to numbers, but our targets are clear – to improve the performance of our car and our package. By package, I mean every area, from the race team to the operations on track, the pit stops, the strategy: it’s more than just the car performance, and we are committed in all departments to make this step, this is the target. Then, we will see where our position will be as the season progresses: but the key target is to improve this year and to deliver a better job than we did in 2023.”

Technical director Key added: “It’s always great to see a new car coming out. The C44 project was already running before I joined the team, of course: I joined in the middle of it, so I have to give credit to the team, who have done a fantastic job. There’s a great team in Hinwil, with a good and positive working atmosphere, and everyone’s keen to make progress. Of course, designing and building a car like the C44 is not the work of one person: it’s an immensely complex project, even more so nowadays, with the regulations we have.

“The key is really down to managing this process, with the hundreds of people who have been working hard to develop the car, design it and then ultimately build it. The C44 is virtually a completely new car, with a few carry-over areas at the rear of the car. The team had to take an ambitious direction well before I joined: there are many mechanical changes, some of which you can’t see at all, but some are very visible.

“The front suspension is completely new, a tough and ambitious project for a team of our size, there are many aerodynamic changes, too, as would be expected given that this remains the primary area of development – so, overall, the car will really look quite different to last year’s car. We took a lot of new, exciting directions, all of which appear to hold quite a bit of potential, so we’re looking forward to seeing them on track.”