Team Sauber PETRONAS continues to show signs of steady progress, as evidenced by this week's unveiling of the new wind tunnel and the recent announcements about the new driver line-up and increased collaboration with the Ferrari team.

However, following the wind tunnel's unveiling, several things were revealed that could indicate signs that the small Swiss team will still fall short of the development efforts of their larger rivals.

The front-running teams spend upwards of 8,000 hours in the wind tunnel each year. This translates to roughly 333 days, meaning the tunnels are in nearly constant use. Sauber typically spends only 2,500 hours per year giving them just over 100 days of work. For 2004 they are not expecting to increase their amount of time even with the new tunnel. With aerodynamics playing an increasingly important role in the performance of an F1 car, this will certainly develop the C23 at a slower pace than their rivals.

An equally sombre announcement was made by Peter Sauber that the team would not be running a third car at every official Friday practice session in 2004. A rule change for 2004 will see the end to "Heathrow Agreement" testing, where teams who opted to limit private testing during the year would receive an extra two hours of testing at the race track on the Friday's of grand prix weekends. Renault, Jaguar, Jordan and Minardi opted for this plan in 2003, while Sauber continued with unlimited private testing. Early on, this seemed to be the right arrangement for Sauber, but as the season went on, the team seemed to regret that choice. The Friday sessions had done a lot to help Renault and Jaguar to be more competitive on Sunday, while Sauber was struggling to get into points-paying positions. Towards the end of the season, Sauber had decided to switch to Heathrow testing for 2004.

Then the FIA threw a wrench in the works by ending the "Heathrow Agreement", but creating a new provision for the bottom six teams in the standings to run a third car and driver during the official Friday practice session. A limit on the number of private test days allowed will be imposed on all teams as well. While this initially seemed to be a good arrangement for the smaller teams, Sauber has revealed that they cannot afford to run a third car on each race weekend, and will only partake in selected ones. So, unless Sauber manages to break into the top four teams, this new rule will be of little help to the team.

The reason for the team's limit on development comes down quite simply to their available budget. The team is well sponsored, but the top teams are believed to have four to five times the funding of Sauber. It is sad to see the team limit their development for such a promising year with the new drivers, new wind tunnel and an equal engine to Ferrari, but it is better than running the team into debt.

It needs to be said that Peter Sauber is a very patient man, and one with a long term vision for the team. That vision includes an eventual step up to running three daily shifts in the wind tunnel when funding becomes available. The tunnel was also designed to be rented to other race teams and car manufacturers which in turn will generate income for the team. Sauber also continues to add sponsors to their ranks during a tough economy which has seen other teams lose theirs. It took Peter Sauber two decades to become the dominant force in sportscar racing, and it could well take the same amount of time to rise through the ranks of F1. With steady progress each year, Sauber could find themselves at the front of the grid one year. But, it looks like 2004 still won't be that year.