Sauber

Sauber Formula 1.5 team was a racing team that competed between 1993 and 2018, with only one year out in 2008. The team powered to 2 constructor titles in 2001 and 2007, whilst also winning the drivers titles in 2001, 2007 and 1995.

## History

### Beginning and Mercedes power (1993-1994)

#### 1993 Season

A planned Mercedes collaboration with Sauber to enter their own Formula 1.5 team was shelved, although behind closed doors Mercedes continued to fund Sauber's Formula 1.5 project. The team was to be powered by V10 Ilmor engines in a chassis dubbed the C12, a continuation of Sauber's naming policy from sports car construction (the 'C' was a reference to Peter Sauber's wife Christine). It was to be driven by JJ Lehtoand Karl Wendlinger.

The car's racing debut took place in the first race of 1993, in South Africa. The car was soon turning heads not only for its sharp FW14-like lines and striking black livery but its impressive performance, scoring on debut. Despite this impressive entrance to the Grand Prix scene, over the remainder of the season the team rarely saw the finish line due to unreliability and racing accidents. However, they proved their form was not a flash in the pan recording a slow stream of points finishes and rarely finishing outside the top ten when they actually completed a race distance. Despite not achieving a win they ended the season with 47 points, in 4th place.

#### 1994 Season

The team went into the 1994 season as Sauber Mercedes, now officially Mercedes's factory-backed team with a new car in the Sauber C13 and the Ilmor engine rebadged the Mercedes 3.5 V10. New team Pacific Grand Prix Ltd took a customer supply of more dated Ilmor units. Between seasons Lehto had signed to Mild Seven Benetton Ford. Former Sauber sports car driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen took up the role as Karl Wendlinger's teammate.

Early signs showed the team was, rather disappointingly, delivering similar performances to the previous year, scoring a small tally of points in the opening rounds. The season took a turn for the worse after the tragic deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix. Just two weeks later, Wendlinger was seriously injured after crashing in practice for the Monaco Grand Prix; losing control of his car under braking for the Nouvelle Chicane. He suffered serious head injuries which left him in a coma for weeks and he was sidelined for the rest of the season. He was replaced by Andrea de Cesaris and a returning Lehto who had been replaced at Benetton after injury complications.

The Wendlinger accident was a pivotal moment in Formula One history. Together with the death of Ayrton Senna, it later prompted the mandatory implementation of head protection for drivers in the form of high cockpit sides. Sauber voluntarily pioneered prototypes of these to protect their drivers.

They would finish the season 4th again with 57 points. Mercedes was dissatisfied with the progress and left the team at the end of the year.

### Red Bull Alliance and Ford Engines (1995-1996)

#### 1995 Season; World Drivers Champions

The 1995 season and Sauber C14 marked the beginning of a ten-year sponsorship deal with energy drink giant Red Bull. Entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz had purchased a majority share in the team and Fritz Kaiser joined as commercial director. They landed a factory supply of Ford ECA Zetec-R V8 engines. The 1995 season saw the return of Karl Wendlinger partnering Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Unfortunately, the Austrian's serious accident in 1994 seemed to have taken a lot out of his driving potential and he was replaced after two races by rookie Jean-Christophe Boullion.

The season, for Frentzen at least, went surprisingly well, taking the drivers championship for the first time in Sauber's history, despite an underhwhelming Ford engine. Jean-Christophe Bouillon was dropped allowing Wendlinger to make his final Formula 1.5 appearance. Sauber finished the season third in the constructors with 91 points and 5 wins.

1995 also saw Petronas become Sauber's presenting sponsor. They renewed their association in 2007, by which time the team had changed ownership.

#### 1996 Season

Despite a promising driver line-up in Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Johnny Herbert, a revised C15 and the new V10 Cosworth JD engine the Sauber team could only manage third again the constructors standings, with 72 points and 2 wins.

For the next season they announced a customer deal to receive Ferrari V10 engines while they worked with new sponsors Petronas to construct their own engines. Unfortunately, due to a major economic crash in Asia the engines were never completed.

### Sauber- Petronas (1997-2005)

Sauber used Ferrari designed engines (from 1997 to 2005) and gearboxes built by Sauber Petronas Engineering, a company founded for the sole purpose of building these engines, that were nearly identical to the ones used by Ferrari. Sauber licensed nearly every legally licensable part from Ferrari and even had several Ferrari engineers on staff. Many pointed out suspicious similarities between Ferrari and Sauber chassis, but no formal accusations were ever made (FIA rules required each team to design their own chassis). In the first four years of the partnership Sauber finished a high of third in the championship and only 1 win over those 4 years.

In 2001, Sauber brought a virtually unknown and very inexperienced Kimi Raikkönen into Formula 1.5, despite the protests of a few drivers and influential members of the FIA, including Max Mosley, that he would pose a danger to other drivers. . It also caused Red Bull to sell their majority share in the team to Credit Suisse in protest. His performances that year, however, more than vindicated their decision. 2001 saw Sauber take their first constructor's championship with 6 wins and 112 points. Nick Heidfeld also won the drivers championship for the team in 2001. In 2004, Sauber spent a large sum of money on a new wind tunnel at Hinwil, and a high performance supercomputer (called *Albert*) to help refine the aerodynamics of their cars. The state-of-the-art infrastructure Sauber has built up is one aspect that attracted BMW Motorsport to Sauber.

In its later years, Sauber's links with Ferrari became weaker. They sided with the non-Ferrari teams over planned rule changes at the end of the 2004 season and also joined up with the GPWC. Then they decided to switch to Michelin tyres, while Ferrari continued to use Bridgestone tyres. Meanwhile, beverage company Red Bull left Sauber in 2005 as they founded their own team, Red Bull Racing. BMW ownership commenced from 1 January 2006 with BMW having bought Credit Suisse's share in the team. Sauber's final Grand Prix before BMW takeover was the 2005 Chinese Grand Prix.

Sauber's run of an independent team finished with five consecutvie top 3 finishes in the constructor standings winning race in all five seasons.

### BMW Sauber (2006-2009)

At the end of the 2005 season, the team's majority shareholding previously owned by Credit Suisse was bought by BMW, with Peter Sauber retaining a 20% stake, and was renamed *BMW Sauber*. BMW sold its part back to Peter Sauber after the end of the 2009 season, but the team formally used the name *BMW Sauber* until the end of the 2010 season. The team held a German licence from 2006 to 2009, having reverted to a Swiss licence in 2010.

#### 2006 Season

For the 2006 season the team re-signed Nick Heidfeld from Williams to be their lead driver (Heidfeld drove for Sauber in 2001–2003), while Jacques Villeneuve had his existing Sauber contract confirmed. Pole Robert Kubica was signed as the team's third driver. The team continued to use Sauber's facilities, mostly for chassis construction and wind tunnel testing, while BMW's headquarters in Munich were responsible for building the new P86 V8 engine.

Former Sauber title sponsor Petronas renewed their contract with the new team after BMW Sauber snubbed BP-Castrol, despite them being BMW's official commercial gasoline and motor oil partner. Credit Suisse also continued their sponsorship. For the new season BMW Sauber announced a technical partnership with Intel and O2, claiming that it will eventually lead to technological improvements available on BMW road cars.

The new livery, unveiled in Valencia on 17 January 2006, was the traditional BMW M blue and white with red flashes.

The team ran a radical "twin towers" aero enhancement on the front of the car for the race in Magny-Cours, France, which was meant to direct airflow to the rear and thus improve performance. This unconventional add-on was promptly banned by the FIA as it was adjudged to impede the drivers' vision and thus compromise safety.

Kubica stood in for Villeneuve, BMW stating that Villeneuve could not drive due to medical complications following his accident at the German Grand Prix. fter the Hungarian Grand Prix, BMW announced that Kubica would complete the season for the Swiss team, spelling the end of former world champion Villeneuve's F1.5 career.

The team finished 2nd that year with 136 points and 2 wins.

#### 2007 Season; 2x Constructor Champions

On 19 October 2006, it was announced that Robert Kubica would partner Nick Heidfeld for the 2007 season with Sebastian Vettel taking the test and reserve driver role. On 21 December, it was announced that Timo Glock had been signed as the team's second test driver. The team launched their 2007 car, the F1.07, on 16 January 2007.

The new car showed promising form throughout the winter testing, topping the times sheets on occasions. However, team principal Mario Theissen declared some reliability concerns before the season's opening race in Melbourne.

The Canadian Grand Prix brought mixed fortunes for the team. While Nick Heidfeld scored a first place finish, Robert Kubica suffered a huge crash that resulted in a long safety car period. The media was initially told Kubica had broken his leg, but it later emerged that he had escaped with only a sprained ankle and concussion.

Sebastian Vettel took his place in the US Grand Prix, After the European GP, however, it was announced by Scuderia Toro Rosso that Vettel would take the second driver seat from Scott Speed.

2007 was the second time Sauber took the constructors title in their history, scoring 11 wins and 211 points. Nick Heidfeld also won the drivers.

#### 2008 Season

BMW Sauber did not take part in F1.5 due to an increased performance that saw them compete in F1.0

#### 2009 Season

In October 2008, the team confirmed that they would stick with Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld as their drivers for the 2009 season.

Following a meeting of the BMW board on 28 July, the company held a press conference the following morning in which it confirmed the team's withdrawal from Formula 1.5 at the end of 2009. Chairman Dr. Norbert Reithofer described the decision as a strategic one.

On 15 September 2009, it was announced that BMW Sauber had secured a buyer, Qadbak Investments Limited which turned to be a shell company. However, Lotus Racing had been given the 13th and final slot in the 2010 season. The team were awarded what was termed a 14th entry, which hinged either on another team dropping out or all the other teams agreeing to allow 28 cars to enter the 2010 Championship.

2009 saw Sauber finish 2nd in the constructors with 150 points and 2 wins.

### Independent Return and Ferrari Engines (2010-2018)

#### 2010 Season

On 27 November 2009, it was announced that Peter Sauber would repurchase the team conditional upon the team receiving a FIA entry for the 2010 season.

On 3 December 2009, the FIA confirmed that Sauber had been granted the entry vacated by Toyota Racing following their withdrawal and would be using Ferrari engines. Peter Sauber had previously announced, on 29 November, that the team's chassis for the 2010 season would be designated Sauber C29, while the Swiss newspaper Blick reported that the team will be called *Team Sauber F1*. However, in January 2010, Peter Sauber had said that he had not yet applied for a change of name, so therefore they remained for the season as *BMW Sauber F1 Team* despite zero BMW components. Kamui Kobayashi was announced as their first signed driver for the 2010 season on 17 December 2009. Pedro de la Rosa was signed as Sauber's second driver on 19 January 2010.

Before the Singapore Grand Prix, it was announced that Nick Heidfeld would replace de la Rosa for the remaining 5 races of the season. Esteban Gutiérrez later joined the team as a reserve driver, and drove during young drivers' testing after the end of the season.

After running a blank livery for the first four races of the 2010 season, the team finally announced a sponsorship deal with the Burger King fast food franchise at the Spanish and European Grands Prix. During frustrations, Peter Sauber admitted that his decision to rescue the team had been emotionally driven, but insisted that it was proper.

2010 saw Sauber's return drop them to 5th in the constructors scoring 195 points and failing to win any grand prix for the first time in 10 years.

#### 2011 Season

Kobayashi was retained for 2011; he was joined by teammate Sergio Pérez and his compatriot Esteban Gutiérrez as reserve driver. The team debuted their 2011 car – the C30 – on 31 January, with testing beginning the following day.

At the start of the season in Australia, both Pérez and Kobayashi were later disqualified due to technical infringements. Pérez suffered a major collision at the Monaco Grand Prix, resulting in concussion and a sprained thigh. Despite being passed fit for the Canadian Grand Prix, Pérez withdrew from the weekend after the first free practice session due to illness, he was replaced by 2010 Sauber driver Pedro de la Rosa for the remainder of the weekend.

The team finished 5th for the second year running, however did win a race and increased the points from the previous season to 254.

On 28 July, it was announced that Kobayashi, Pérez and Gutiérrez would all remain in the Sauber setup for the 2012 season.

#### 2012 Season

2012 was a much better season compared to the previous two, with the team taking 6 wins and finishing second in the constructors with 408 points. During the season team principle, Peter Sauber, was stepping back from the daily management of his team, handing the role of team principal to Kaltenborn.

#### 2013 Season

On 23 November 2012, it was announced that Nico Hülkenberg, Esteban Gutiérrez and Robin Frijns would make up the team's line-up for the 2013 season; Hülkenberg and Gutiérrez as part of the race team and Frijns as reserve driver. The team's car for the season, the C32, was launched in Hinwil on 2 February 2013. The livery was changed and the car is now grey, similar to the Sauber cars in the early 1990s.

On 15 July 2013, Sergey Sirotkin joined Sauber as a development driver as part of a tie-in with Russian investors with a view to promoting him to a race seat as early as 2014.

It was clear soon that the C32 was far from the competitiveness shown by its predecessor, finishing the season third, however managing 5 wins over the season.

#### 2014 Season

In February 2014, IndyCar Series driver Simona de Silvestro was signed by Sauber as an "affiliated driver", with the intent of racing in F1 by 2015. However, by the end of 2014, de Silvestro was no longer part of the team. For the 2014 season, Gutiérrez was retained and joined by Adrian Sutil, following Hülkenberg's decision to return to Force India. The team struggled throughout the season, often going out in the first round of qualifying. The team scored 55 points and finished a low of 6th in the championship.

#### 2015 Season

On 1 November 2014, it was announced that Marcus Ericsson would drive for Sauber in 2015. On 5 November 2014, Felipe Nasr was announced as a Sauber driver to complete the 2015 line-up. Ferrari Driver Academy member Raffaele Marciello acted as reserve driver. The team also underwent a livery change in accordance to their new sponsor Banco do Brasil.

##### Driver's contractual dispute

The start of the season saw Sauber become involved in legal action commenced by their 2014 reserve driver, Giedo van der Garde. On 5 March 2015, van der Garde received a partial award under international arbitration by the Swiss Chambers' Arbitration Institution, upholding the driver's contract for a race seat in 2015. Sauber breached the contract when the team instead signed Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson as announced in November 2014. Despite the Swiss arbitrator ordering Sauber to "refrain from taking any action the effect of which would be to deprive Mr. van der Garde of his entitlement to participate in the 2015 Formula One season as one of Sauber's two nominated race drivers", further legal action was required to see the award enforced. Just prior to the Australian Grand Prix held on 13 to 15 March 2015, van der Garde applied to an Australian court who ordered, at first instance on 11 March and on 12 March following Sauber's failed appeal, that he be permitted to race in Melbourne. Due to the risk of having its assets seized for not obeying Court orders, Sauber opted to abort participation in Friday morning's first practice session pending an outcome in contempt of court proceedings against Sauber's team principal, Monisha Kaltenborn.

Based on media speculation, however, thanks to an intervention by Bernie Ecclestone to avoid further negative publicity on the sport, Ericsson and Nasr were able to take part in Friday afternoon's second practice session. The matter was temporarily resolved on Saturday, 14 March 2015, following an announcement by van der Garde that he would forego racing in Melbourne, with a view to finding a more permanent solution in the future. The Sauber team and its new drivers for 2015, Ericsson and Nasr, were thus able to complete the Saturday qualifying session and point-scoring race on the Sunday. Three days later, on 18 March 2015, van der Garde confirmed that he and Sauber had reached, by mutual consent, a settlement that would see him relinquish, once and for all, his rights to race in Formula 1.5 with the team in return for compensation in the amount of US$16 million. The controversy, however, continued due to a statement released by van der Garde revealing further background and indicating that his intention had also been that of promoting the rights of racing drivers, whose contracts are often dishonoured. In response, the Sauber team expressed surprise at van der Garde's post-settlement statement opting to not comment further on the matter.

Sauber finished the season 6th with 150 points.

#### 2016 Season

On 23 July 2015, Sauber confirmed that Ericsson and Nasr would be retained for 2016.

##### Mid season sale of team

On 20 July 2016 it was announced that Swiss based investment firm Longbow Finance had bought both Peter Sauber and Monisha Kaltenborn's shares in the company, which made Longbow Finance the sole owner of Sauber. Pascal Picci was announced to take Peter Sauber's role as chairman of the board and president. Monisha Kaltenborn remained as Team principal and CEO of Sauber. The acquisition by Longbow Finance followed a series of speculation about the future of Sauber. The team had been in financial trouble for years before the change of ownership, often being unable to pay salaries to team members on time. Longbow's owners are said to include Swedish billionaires Finn Rausing, Stefan Persson and Karl-Johan Persson.

The team finished in their worst position in their history of 7th in the championship with 73 points.

#### 2017 Season

On 11 November 2016, Sauber announced Ericsson would remain with the team in 2017. On 16 January 2017, the team announced the signing of Pascal Wehrlein, replacing Nasr. After Wehrlein was injured in a crash at the 2017 Race of Champions, Ferrari third driver Antonio Giovinazzi took his place for the first winter test. Despite Wehrlein being fit to take part in the Australian Grand Prix, he later withdrew after participating in the first two practice sessions, with Giovinazzi replacing him for the rest of the race weekend. Giovinazzi again replaced Wehrlein for the following race in China. Days before the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, it was confirmed that the first ever female F1 team principal Monisha Kaltenborn would be stepping down from the team. Her role was replaced by former Renault team principal Frédéric Vasseur.

### Alfa Romeo Partnership (2018)

#### 2018 Season

In April 2017, it was confirmed Sauber would end their engine deal with Ferrari and begin a new contract with Honda. However, on 27 July 2017, it was announced that Sauber had cancelled their planned partnership with Honda for 2018 onwards for "strategic reasons". The following day Sauber confirmed their new multi-year agreement with Ferrari for up-to-date engines starting in 2018. On 29 November 2017, Sauber announced that they had signed a multi-year technical and commercial partnership contract with Alfa Romeo, therefore the team was renamed to *Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team* for the 2018 season onwards.

On 2 December 2017, it was announced that Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson would be racing for the team in 2018. Tatiana Calderón was promoted to the role of test driver, having been a development driver for the team in 2017.

The team had a good season finishing 4th in the championship with 281 points and even taking 2 wins, their best result since 2013.

The team fully rebranded in 2019 to Alfa Romeo, however Leclerc moved on from the team to join Ferrari in F1.0.