The C29 chassis was designed by a technical group led by Willy Rampf alongside Christoph Zimmermann, Pierre Waché, and Seamus Mullarkey. The car was powered by a customer Ferrari V8 engine, re-establishing the supplier relationship that had lapsed during the BMW era. During the Australian Grand Prix weekend, Sauber announced plans to run an F-duct system in free practice, similar in concept to the device debuted on the McLaren MP4-25 that season, reflecting the team's intent to develop its aerodynamic package aggressively throughout the year.
The C29's early season was hampered by severe reliability problems. Through the first six rounds, the car failed to score a single championship point, a stark contrast to Sauber's ambitions following their return as an independent constructor. The team's fortunes shifted at the Turkish Grand Prix, the seventh round of the year, when Kamui Kobayashi claimed a point with a tenth-place finish — the first scoring result of the season.
From mid-season onward the car gradually found its footing, and Sauber closed the year with 44 points in total, enough to claim eighth place in the Constructors' Championship. The recovery demonstrated both the underlying potential of the chassis and the team's capacity to develop the car over the course of a long campaign.
Drivers for the season were Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa, with Sauber navigating the year with a leaner commercial platform than most of its rivals.
The C29's livery story was unusual among Formula One cars of the era. At launch and during the initial test sessions, the car ran in a near-blank scheme bearing only the drivers' names and national flags in the absence of major title sponsorship. At a subsequent test, the team replaced the driver names with the message "See you in Bahrain March 12–14," using the bodywork itself as a promotional surface.
Once racing began, the livery remained sparse, carrying the team's own logo on the engine cover until the Canadian Grand Prix, where a C1 logo was substituted. Special anniversary graphics appeared at the German and Hungarian Grands Prix to mark Sauber Motorsport's 40th anniversary as a company. The Hungarian round was also notable as the team's 300th Grand Prix appearance, counting the BMW Sauber period from 2006 to 2009.
Confirmed commercial partners on the C29 included Bridgestone (the sole tyre supplier that season), Scalp D, and Certina, with Emil Frey added from Monaco onward. Seasonal sponsors Burger King featured at the Spanish, European, and Belgian Grands Prix, while Mad Croc Energy Drink came aboard from Belgium onwards. Additional Japanese partners — Planex Group, Kinshukai Group, Takata, Onegai My Melody, Mitsubishi Electric, and Converse — joined for specific rounds.
The C29 represented Sauber's first full season as an independent constructor since rejoining the grid following the collapse of the BMW factory programme. While the reliability failures of the first half of the year were significant, the 44-point haul confirmed the team's viability as a privateer operation and established a Ferrari-powered platform that would carry forward into subsequent seasons. The car's development trajectory — from points-less through six rounds to a respectable eighth in the standings — became a template for how Sauber could operate on constrained resources in the modern Formula One era.