Team Preview: Sauber

9: Marcus Ericsson (2014 finish 19th 0 points)

12: Felipe Nasr (2014 finish N/A)

2014 Constructors' Championship 10th (0 points)

2015 chassis: Sauber C34

Sauber is coming off of its most disappointing season ever in which they failed to score any points for the first time ever. Sauber has brought in a completely new driver lineup by bringing in Marcus Ericsson who is coming off his rookie season at Caterham in which he failed to score any points and then have brought in rookie Felipe Nasr who had a third place finish in GP2 last year and won four races. Sauber was in a difficult situation last year in which the car was not up to performance and they used the struggling Ferrari turbo engine. Sauber will be looking for both of these to take a step forward in 2015.

Marcus Ericsson had a fairly quiet season at the back of the grid at Caterham last year. Ericsson was able to match team mate Kamui Kobayashi on pace at times throughout the year which shows that Ericsson can probably put in some decent performances given the right car. Sauber should be a small step forward for him and he will be hoping for a car that can fight for points at times. With a car that can show off his talent a bit better, Ericsson will be trying to impress the better teams in Formula 1 so he can eventually take another step forward.

Felipe Nasr will be looking to impress in his rookie season with Sauber. The Brazilian driver spent the last three seasons in the GP2 series in which he was able to compete near the front of the grid. Before his third place finish last year, Nasr placed fourth in 2013. Nasr has a little experience testing with Williams and will be trying to bring that bit of experience with him to Sauber. Nasr has been thought of as one of the better drivers coming through the junior ranks and he will now get a chance to prove this at the top level.

Sauber surprised early in testing by being at or near the top of the timesheets at the first test in Jerez. Sauber continued with these strong performances as testing went on and also put in the most miles of any team except Mercedes. Sauber will be looking to carry this strong momentum into the season when it really counts. However, it is difficult to see Sauber being as far up the timesheets as they were when everyone else is showing their true pace which could make for another difficult season for Sauber.

Prediction: I think Sauber will definitely improve over its dismal performance last year but I do not see them making that much of a leap up the grid. I expect Sauber to be fighting for occasional points but not much else. If this is the case, it will be an improvement over last year but still a disappointment.

How do you think Sauber will perform over the 2015 season? Do you see them building off of its strong preseason testing form or do you see them struggling again once it really counts? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.