1990 Mercedes-Benz Sauber C11

Before Michael Schumacher tooled around the grand prix circuits of the world in the mighty Benettons, and later, Ferraris, one of his first experiences with extreme forms of horsepower would come in 1990 and 1991 driving this, the Sauber-Mercedes C11.

Like Michael Schumacher, who would come from the world of 200 horsepower Formula 3 single-seater racing, Peter Sauber, the Swiss engineer and motor racing aficionado, had made the jump from mainly small sports-prototypes to Group C during the very early '80s.

Sauber's first couple attempts as prototype designs for Group C racing would be, putting it mildly, troublesome. Reliability problems would plague the first couple of models. Sauber would achieve greater success with the BMW-powered C7, but it still didn't have the pace of the Porsches and Lancias.

Despite the team's best efforts, the C8 just would not go on to produce the results it seemed capable of achieving. Therefore, Sauber and his team would abandon the design and would focus on building a new chassis that would actually achieve the goals set before it. This would lead to the C9.

The C9 would be based upon the C8, but it would be changed in important areas to improve performance and handling.

While there would be some obvious similarities in body design, the C9 would have a brand new body. The C9 would fare much better in its debut at Le Mans in 1987, but it would still fail to finish the race.

Realizing that in order to compete against the Porsches and the rising Jaguar threat Sauber would need better support, Mercedes-Benz would increase their support of the Swiss engineer. This move would make Mercedes an even bigger partner heading into the 1988 season. The team would immediately enjoy the benefits of the partnership scoring a victory at Jerez. Unfortunately, the pace of the updated C9 would be such that it would prohibit the team from making the start of the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team would decline starting the race due to tire failure caused by the higher speeds and downforce levels putting too much stress on the tires.

One year later, Mercedes would introduce their new alloy V8 engine that would come to power the C11. The new quad-cam V8 was capable of producing 720 hp and would carry the car on to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989.

1989 would be a special year, and not just for the team having achieved the goal for which the partnership had come together for. No, the dropping of the Kouros sponsorship would lead the cars to be free from the blue livery that had adorned the car throughout the previous seasons. While the car would be covered in an overall black livery in 1988, the following season would see the return of something very special to the racing fan around the world. The 1955 Le Man tragedy would take away more than just Mercedes-Benz from sportscar racing. With it would go the famed 'silver-arrows' paint scheme that had become so legendary with the German cars. However, in 1989, a silver-adorned Mercedes-Benz would grace the starting grid of Le Mans and the rest of the World Sportcar Championship rounds.

The C9 design, with the alloy V8 engine proved to be a strong combination. Therefore, it wasn't necessary to design an all-new car, but just necessary to evolve and 'tweak' the design in order to make what would be a new car. And this is just what Russ would do. What Sauber and his team would end up doing would be to create what many consider to be an absolute classic design; a design that transcended eras of endurance racing with just a glance of the car from the tip of its splitter all the way back to its rear wing.

The C11, as it would be called, would bear great similarity to the C9 but its lines would be cleaner and more aggressive. The aggressive lines would start on a chassis constructed of the rather new carbon-fiber material instead of aluminum. This would provide the chassis greater rigidity while saving some weight. Then, upon this strong structure, the team would set to work designing a car.

The nose of the car would receive the attention of the designers. Instead of squared-off fenders, the bodywork would be pulled in much more toward the center of the car out at the edges. This would give the leading edge of the front fenders a sharper look and it would help to pass air around the side of the car. The air which would not pass around the side of the car would then either pass under the car, under the front splitter providing greater downforce to the car, or, it would pass through the low-profile, wide, radiator inlet. The inlet wouldn't just be for the radiator that was positioned at an angle very close to it laying down in the nose of the car. By doing this, all of the surface area would be struck while maintaining a small opening.

The wide mouth opening would also have another use. On the far sides of the opening vanes would help direct cool air through some ducting to the ventilated front disc brakes. This enabled the discs to be worked harder while protecting from fading and overheating.

The leading edge of the front fenders would be raked at a greater angle than that of the C9. This would give the car something of a pointier nose and a slightly lower stance. This redesign of the nose would lower the drag of the car and would increase overall speed.

Running across the nose of the car between the front fenders was a panel that could have a gurney flap attached to it. But more importantly, the bodywork would cover the radiator positioned in the nose. However, the bodywork of the car heading aft to the cockpit would dip down at a steep angle, and therefore, created a channel whereby the hotter air coming from the radiator could be extracted. A slight V-shaped would help channel the airflow to either side of the cockpit to help with airflow and reduction of disturbances.

Over the top of the front fenders was an area whereby louvers or smooth bodywork could be added. The louvered panel would help create downforce by sucking air around the tires out through the top thereby pushing the car down. However, if the extra downforce would not be needed it was possible to attach a smooth panel to the top of the fender, which would help reduce drag.

The rest of the car's bodywork would be smooth and clean with the exception of a number of NACA vents that directed air to important components hiding under the car's bodywork.

Two large NACA vents positioned along the side of the car fed cooler air toward radiators position just after of the car's doors. Positioned above those radiators would be another vent that would protrude up in the airflow slightly on the top of the bodywork prior to the rear wheel. This directed air into the twin-turbos.

Two more NACA vents would be situated in the channel between the rear fenders and the sweeping bodywork traveling after from the cockpit and blending into the rear of the car's bodywork. These two vents would feed all-important cooler air to the ventilated rear disc brakes.

Of course, right ahead of the rear wheels would be the exits for the exhausts coming from the two banks of cylinders. Positioned just above those exits would be ventilation slots. These slots would use the air passing over them to help create a vacuum that would pull some of the incredible heat built up under the engine cowling out from inside the car.
One of the final, but major components on the C11 would be the large rear wing. Where once the C7 had a low rear wing incorporated into bodywork attached to the backside of the rear wheel fairings, the C11 would follow the example of its predecessor and would use a wing attached by twin pillars mounted centrally. As with many of the teams of that year, the rear wing on the C11 would sport a single main plane with another large secondary to help generate the downforce at the rear of the car.
Of course, the vast majority of the car's downforce would come not from the large rear wing, but the large diffuser positioned between the rear wheels. The air passing underneath the splitter on the nose would be squeezed. This increased velocity and lowered pressure. Then, at the rear of the car, would be the large diffuser that acted in reverse thereby trapping the vacuum created underneath the car. This would help to literally suck the car down to the road at speeds.

While the styling of the car's bodywork would be essential for the reduction of drag and increasing of top speed, it was something of a balancing act as many of the functions of the styling would need to serve the operation of a component in that particular area or nearby. This would be seen with the nose, as well as, the numerous other components served by the many NACA vents. At the back of the C11, the bodywork would need to be such just to cover the numerous tube framing that helped to hold the engine, transmission and other important components in position. There had to be a balance between the two functions to have a competitive and reliable car capable of achieving what it was that it had been built. However, all of the compromise in the world on the car's bodywork would not help of the components underneath failed to do their jobs.

In the case of the C11, the team would stick with its trusted Hewland manual transmission that offered five-speeds plus reverse. This transmission and gearbox had proven itself and the team had grown quite familiar with it, which afforded advantages.

The suspension, particularly the front suspension, would receive some updates. The C9 had used a double wishbone arrangement that utilized push-rod operated coil springs and positioned over shock absorbers. In addition, the arrangement made use of a torsion bar to act as a stabilizer. This arrangement worked well and would be adapted for the front suspension on the new C11. This arrangement would replace the simple coil-spring and shock absorber system used on the front suspension of the C9. By doing this, the nose could be designed in such a way as to make it much more aerodynamic and clean.

Of course, one of the major components to remain unchanged would be the massive 5.0-liter V8 powerplant. Able now to push 730 hp at about 7,000 rpm, the C11 certainly had the power in hand to take the fight back to Jaguar and Nissan. However, the fight would just take place at rounds that counted toward the World Sportscar Championship. Therefore, the C11 would not make the trip to Le Mans to try and defend Sauber-Mercedes' victory from the previous season.

Nonetheless, the car would go on to absolutely dominate the World Sportscar Championship, including the 480km of Mexico in which Michael Schumacher would not only take the victory, but also, set the fastest lap of the race. At the end of the season, the C11 would uphold the C9's honor and would successfully defend the team's title in the championship, and it would do so in grand fashion. Out of the nine rounds of the championship, Team Sauber-Mercedes would go on to win all but one round, and that would be the 480km of Silverstone.

After campaigning the car quite successfully in 1990, Sauber-Mercedes set about creating another new car. It would be called the C291. This car would be built around an all-new flat-12 engine that had been as a result of the FIA taking over the World Sportscar Championship and Group C.

The new regulations would open up a whole new world of design for sportscar prototypes. Unfortunately, Sauber-Mercedes would stick with a design still relative to the older Group C days. Competing against what were essentially two-seater Formula One cars, the more conventional C291 would struggle. The brand new and experimental flat-12 engine further exasperated the team's struggles. Therefore, by the time the team returned to Le Mans in June, the C11 would be brought back out of retirement and would finally get to make its appearance at the most famous endurance race.

The C11 of Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger and Fritz Kreuzpointner would be considered a favorite to win coming into the race and would be running up near the front throughout the first few hours of the race. Unfortunately, Wendlinger would spin the car on cold tires and would end up in the wall. After a lot of work to the car, which would see the car drop to 6th overall, Schumacher would get behind the wheel and would put together a truly fantastic performance. The young German would set a blistering pace that would see him set a new lap record in the aged C11 by a mere 5 seconds over the previous year's fastest lap.

In spite of the pace, the damage had already been done. The C11 of Schumacher, Wendlinger and Kreuzpointner would go on to finish the race, but would do so in 5th place, some 7 laps behind the Mazda 787B of Johnny Herbert, Bertrand Gachot and Volker Weidler.

Racing in the C2 category in 1991, which meant the car was complying with pre-1991 regulations, the C11 would go on to finish its career in World Sportscar Championship racing by scoring three more victories in its class. In fact, the chassis last race would be its one and only appearance at the French Classic.

And while the Sauber-Mercedes C11 would bow out of competition it would leave having set the fastest lap of Circuit de la Sarthe and it would do so while at the hands of one Michael Schumacher. Thus, in many ways, the C11 would introduce Michael Schumacher, and all of his talents and abilities, to the world.

Sources:
'Prototyp: Car: Sauber C11', Prototyp.

Fordham, Mike. 'The Most Beautiful Silver Arrow?', Influx.
Chong, Rod. 'Retrospective: Schumacher and the Mercedes C291', Speedhunters: Car Culture at Large.

Wikipedia contributors, 'Mercedes-Benz C11', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 27 December 2011, 20:16 UTC,
Wikipedia contributors, 'Sauber C9', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 25 April 2011, 03:42 UTC,
'Racing Cars: Group C: Sauber Mercedes C11',Ultimatecarpage.com: Powered by Knowledge, Driven by Passion. Retrieved 29 December 2011.

'Racing Cars: Group C: Sauber Mercedes C9' Ultimatecarpage.com: Powered by Knowledge, Driven by Passion.

By Jeremy McMullen