The chassis was designed from scratch by Leo Ress, who had been with the team since the days of the Sauber C7, and the first example was built by local Swiss firm Nobrac ("carbon" spelt backwards).

[7] The front suspension remained similar to the older car with inboard transverse coil spring/damper units actuated by push rods.

It was developed by Willi Muller and Gerd Witthalm and was returned to Stuttgart after every race, the transmission remaining at the Sauber facility at Hinwil.

In race trim, it was tuned to produce around 730 hp (540 kW; 740 PS), which gave the best combination of power and efficiency for Group C, which was a fuel allocation formula.

The first C11 had its initial test run at Paul Ricard in early October 1989 but the car did not debut until the first round at Suzuka in April the following year.

However, the C11 finally made its much-anticipated debut at the second race at Monza in late April and its performance potential was immediately apparent.

Although Sauber-Mercedes had triumphed at the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans, the team choose not to defend the title in 1990 due to the race not being part of the 1990 World Sports-Prototype Championship schedule.

Brundle also believed that the larger capacity engine with lighter turbocharging meant less lag and better fuel consumption, especially since the team also had good drivers.

Team manager Dave Price, who had also constructed most of the chassis, felt that the Mercedes engine/turbo combination gave them much better fuel economy than anyone else, particularly while Schlesser was driving.