 Therefore, Mercedes turned to Sauber to create a chassis for them and initially to run the team before Mercedes took on a larger role.Sauber chose to evolve the previous C7 prototype for the C8, although modifications were needed to house the larger V8 instead of the C7's previous Inline-6.In its debut at the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans, Sauber was able to qualify 17th.