Nasr unfazed by Sauber delay

Felipe Nasr says he is not worried by the fact that Sauber's new C35 car won't hit the track until Formula 1's second test at Barcelona on March 1.

The Hinwill outfit's 2016 contender successfully passed the mandatory FIA crash tests but its manufacturing is still underway, delaying its official launch. Sauber will be present at the first Barcelona test however with an upgraded C34.

"It's not ideal, but we will have a little more time to work on the new car," Nasr told Motorsport.com.

"I don’t think that it will be a big problem, even though we have only four days to understand the car before going to Melbourne.

"There will be many innovations on the car, including the packaging of the Ferrari power unit. I do not expect the first steps to be easy; it will take a bit of time to optimise everything."

Nasr will be looking to improve on his 2015 track record with the Swiss team, believing its potential for progress remains healthy.

"Last year we finished the season with the same car with which we began in Australia, except for a few changes. There weren’t the resources to support a development programme.

"I think we have a lot of room for improvement for this year, and I hope we will make a big step forward."

Mercedes still digging for F1 power unit gold

Force India winter diary part five - Car build