The C31 achieved its first podium, with Pérez behind the wheel, at the. At the the Chelsea FC logo was added to the car. On June 10, Pérez achieved his second podium of the season at the with third place, while Kobayashi added a ninth place to help Sauber move up to sixth place in the Constructors' Championship. For the the C31 achieved its best points haul of the season with Kobayashi coming in fifth position before a penalty pushed him up into fourth, with Pérez following him home in sixth, giving the team 20 points in one round. This was their best scoring round since returning to Formula One as a privateer team. At the Belgian GP Kobayashi started second and Pérez fourth. At the start of the race, Romain Grosjean caused a spectacular crash taking himself, Pérez, championship leader Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton out of action. Kobayashi's Sauber was also damaged in the incident which knocked him right down the field and he finished the race in 13th place. The Italian GP turned out to be a great weekend for the Sauber F1 team and they scored 20 points. Pérez scored second place, and Kobayashi ninth. Pérez had a strong race, overtaking drivers like Schumacher, Räikkönen, Rosberg, Massa and Alonso. The Sauber team had a great strategy with Pérez's car, starting on hard tyres and changing it to medium compound tyres by lap 30 of 53. Kobayashi started in 8th place and finished in 9th, scoring two points. ;Conclusion The Sauber C31 finished the 2012 season in a very respectable sixth place with 126 points, two fastest laps, four podiums and 13 Q3. The car proved to be fast and very competitive, though inconsistent to find the set-up in some circuits and, above all, at the time of the race qualifications. Use in testing The Sauber C31 has been used to test young drivers by the team. Former IndyCar Series driver Simona de Silvestro tested the during her time with the team. She drove the car at the Fiorano Circuit, owned by engine supplier Ferrari and used by them to test. The car has also been used by the team to test young drivers Adderly Fong and Roy Nissany in a two-day test at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. The car completed 99 laps at the circuit on both days with Fong driving on day one and Nissany driving on day two.
Complete Formula One results
Year
Entrant
Engine
Tyres
Drivers
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Points
Sauber F1 Team
Ferrari Type 056
AUS
MAL
CHN
BHR
ESP
MON
CAN
EUR
GBR
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
SIN
JPN
KOR
IND
ABU
USA
BRA
126
6th
Sauber F1 Team
Ferrari Type 056
Kamui Kobayashi
6
Ret
10
13
5
Ret
9
Ret
11
4
18†
13
9
13
3
Ret
14
6
14
9
126
6th
Sauber F1 Team
Ferrari Type 056
Sergio Pérez
8
2
11
11
Ret
11
3
9
Ret
6
14
Ret
2
10
Ret
11
Ret
15
11
Ret
126
6th
Driver failed to finish, but was classified as they had completed over 90% of the race distance.
