By Jamie Makin (5/3/2004)
March 11 2004

This weekend's Australian Grand Prix has been the first chance for the teams to measure up against each other under the same conditions, something not afforded by winter testing. The Sauber-Petronas team has put consistent midfield performances on the time sheets with nearly flawless reliability. The only notable glitch so far has been Massa's car stopping on the first lap of the first Friday practice session due to a fuel pressure problem.

A major talking point over the winter break has been how similar the new Sauber is to the Ferrari and how much more closely the two teams are working together. On track, the C23's performances have been in the one to three second range behind the dominant Ferrari F2004's this weekend. Not surprisingly, many questions posed to Peter Sauber in the Friday press conference have dealt with the Ferrari relationship.

When asked about if he was surprised at Sauber's lagging lap times, Peter said, "Yes, but there are some teams that are one second behind Ferrari, that's also a surprise. Also two seconds, not only we are two seconds behind Ferrari, but the Ferrari were very, very fast today."

For the first time ever, Sauber will run the same specification engine as Ferrari, and will also use their seven speed gearbox. The new one-engine rule has already helped with Sauber's budget. "We have Petronas as an engine supplier and that helps us to save money. About 20 per cent. For us is good." As for the new engine's performance, Peter admitted it posed a few new challenges. "We had some advantages in the past with the old engine but the difference was not so big between the new and the old one. The advantage was we know exactly how many energy go to the water and to the oil and we know exactly the size of the radiators, for example. The engine was very well tested and for sure that was an advantage. Now we have the same engine and when there are problems with the engine then we have the problems too." Ferrari will now have data from four engines instead of two to draw on, which should speed the development process along and make it quicker to identify and solve problems should they occur.

A new rule permits the bottom six teams in the Constructors Championship to run a third car during Friday practice. BAR, Jaguar, Toyota and Jordan were quick to put this opportunity to good use this weekend, with only Minardi and Sauber abstaining. In Minardi's case, there was nothing they could do, as third driver Bas Leinders was confirmed too late to obtain the necessary superlicense from the FIA. Sauber's reasoning was different. "We don't have the infrastructure to drive with a third car." Peter didn't rule out adding a third car later in the season, but claimed it would make no sense to have Sauber's young test driver, Neel Jani, pilot it. "When we drive with the third driver, it’s important that we have a driver with experience who has the knowledge of the circuit. Badoer, for example. It could be." Ferrari's Jean Todt had previously hinted that Sauber could borrow their top test driver, as Badoer meets the criteria by having driven in no grand prix's in the last two seasons.

Ferrari has also become more open in acknowledging the benefit they receive from working with Sauber. In the Thursday press conference, when asked about feedback on Bridgestone tyre performance, Michael Schumacher was quick to respond, "We work very closely with Bridgestone and having Sauber the way they are cooperating now and doing the tests it is very helpful."

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