Stake Kick Sauber F1 have unveiled the C44 car which will compete in the 2024 F1 season.
This season marks Sauber’s return to F1 after a five-season absence, having ran under the Alfa Romeo brand between 2019-2023 before the Italian constructor concluded their partnership at the end of last season.
Sauber have since expanded their partnership with sponsors, Stake – Australian-Curacaon online Casino – and Kick – video live streaming service, to form Stake Kick Sauber although they will be known as Stake Sauber on a day-to-day basis.
Kick also acquired naming rights to the chassis which meant that their constructor name is known as Kick Sauber for the next two seasons, with the car now carrying a green-and-black livery with the ‘Stake’ name displayed across the sidepods.
The C44, Unleashed 💚🖤 pic.twitter.com/On1VpWLVmx
— Stake F1 Team (@stakef1team) February 5, 2024
Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas have remained with the team for a third season together, whilst the car’s suspension has been tweaked from push-rod to pull-rod for the C44 compared to 2023’s C43.
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,” commented Team Representative Alessandro Alunni Bravi.
Bravi proceeded to speak of feeling “excited” at the team’s “fresh new identity” and believes that the constructor can improve upon their ninth-placed finish last season.
“We are confident about this car and our team: we won’t speak about specific targets, because it’s always difficult to put commit to numbers, but our targets are clear – to improve the performance of our car and our package.”
Bottas described the new livery as “different” but iterated that he and Zhou “… need to perform as a team and extract the most out of this package, which has some impressive potential – nothing else matters.”
On his ambitions for the season, Bottas added: “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.”
Zhou meanwhile described the livery as “very exciting” and hopefully “fast” although he iterated that expectations can’t be set until pre-season testing is done.
“The expectations are high but, at the same time, we know 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.”
The C44 will undergo a shakedown in Barcelona, Spain, on Friday 9 February ahead of the pre-season test in Bahrain between 21-23 February.