Time lapse: The secret life of a F1 race car - Sauber F1 Team

What happens with F1 race cars when they are not racing on one of the race tracks around the world? They are transported back home to the factory, disassembled (or stripped) right down to the survival cell and reassembled with the parts and setup for the next race.

Between the German Grand Prix and the Young Driver Test in Silverstone, our mechanics had an unusual two weeks' time to complete this task, which is normally performed in some 2-3 days. Perfect to set up some cameras to show you a time lapse video starting from the arrival at the factory and ending when the trucks leave Hinwil again.

Click 'play' to enter the C32's living room, the atrium of our factory, and watch our mechanics as they strip the car and put it back together again. No curtains, no disturbing cuts or editing -- pure and raw behind-the-scenes footage.

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[sauberfteam]

Thanks a lot, Rodrigo. Great to hear that you enjoy our videos.

[sauberfteam]

We do have spare steering wheels, but you're right. The StW is usually used for the entire season. Also the chassis (we build 5-6 per season) is used the entire year (chassis are switched from time to time so every chassis gets to the maximum mileage at the end of the season).

[dckvgrst]

Sauber always innovating with videos that no one has ever seen before. Tks.

[JMD]

On of your guys best videos to date...very very cool to see it completely blown apart and rebuilt...that workshop is amazing....what i wouldn't give to see it in person!

[sauberfteam]

Special camlock screws (quick release screws) are used for the bodywork; torque wrenches for the suspension (e.g. upper/lower wishbone), mounting the gearbox, connecting uprights and wishbones as well as springs and dampers.

[sauberfteam]

Thank you very much, indeed. Glad you liked the video!

[Frozenfoxradio]

Outstanding video! You guys always have great things to share with fans. Another reason why everyone should be a Sauber fan!

[sauberfteam]

Das freut uns zu hören! Der Wagen nebenan steht in der Regel da und wird für Pitstop Trainings verwendet.

[atjays]

Another fantastic video from you guys! I think the average fan forgets how many hours are poured into these cars when they are not at the race track. Very cool to give us behind the scenes look at your pristine race prep area!

[traxracer]

Hmm, thanks for the insight, and I can surely say that this series of helping the fans understand the car and the processes around it are really helpful. I really appreciate these videos and hope you some more stuff coming up through the year :)

[brow]

Looks like a fantastic place to work, I just enjoyed watching the sun move across the lab/garage.

[sauberfteam]

That's a tough question, Luka. It is very difficult to allocate costs to the cars (how much development goes into which car, etc.). In principle, you'd have to divide a team's budget by the number of chassis/monocoques they build (in our case some 5 to 6). But then, we make some 40 front/rear wings, etc.

Crashed parts (especially the monocoque) go through a strickt quality control check. In most cases the chassis isn't damaged and may be used again.

[thediva]

Joni, das ist einfach
Cool sound, cool time

[FlorentBories]

Thank you for showing us that!
I appreciate a lot the music!

[garykirkpatrick]

Thank you very much for letting us see what goes on between races.

[sauberfteam]

A few years ago the guys changed an engine (which basically equals stripping the entire car) between FP3 and qualifying... Normally, it would be some 8 hours (cars back in factory on Tuesday, dismantled Tue/Wed, reassembled Wed/Thu and back into the truck on Friday).

[lonsomclovin]

Sometimes i wonder how they do not to forget any piece of the car out while rebuilding it... nice video, thanks for uploading!

[synaesthesiification]

Awesome video guys, loving the soundtrack too - gone to listen to more of his stuff :D

[sauberfteam]

Thank you! We try our best, but unfortunately we are very limited with filming at the race tracks.

[sauberfteam]

There are different reasons. First of all, some parts must go through quality control checks. Secondly, we need to dismantle the car to make sure that everything is still ok with all the parts. And yes, we usually have new parts on the cars and adaptions for each race. Furthermore, each part's mileage is monitored and at the end of a part's life span, it has to be exchanged.