Sauber

**Sauber Motorsport AG** was a Swiss engineering company. Rising all the way from hillclimbers to Le Mans prototypes, Sauber entered F1 in 1993 and had affiliations with various manufacturers. Most notably, they entered as a works team for Mercedes in their first two years, later worked with Petronas from 1997 to 2005, even making in-house engines in collaboration with the Malaysian company, and most notably becoming BMW's works team from 2006 to 2009, running as BMW Sauber and keeping the name until 2010 even after BMW's departure. Sauber ran as an independent company from 2011 to 2017, with mixed results and multiple ownership changes. In 2018, they started an affiliation with Alfa Romeo, and even ran under the Alfa Romeo name in 2019 and 2020. Following Ferrari's end of support in 2021, Sauber ran again as an independent company, but without the financial support from Ferrari, they slipped down the order and were constantly threatened with bankruptcy. They had multiple close calls and results that kept them afloat, most notably from star driver and benefactor John Cida, but 2029 was their final year as the mounting debts proved too much for the Swiss company. All assets were purchased by a Spanish consortium consisting of various famous Spanish people and companies, forming the successor team Campos Repsol.

## Origins and Formula 1 History

Sauber was founded in the 1970s by motorsport enthusiast Peter Sauber. With his engineering skills, the team rose from hillclimbing to endurance racing, eventually forming an alliance with Mercedes and winning the Le Mans 24h race with the Sauber Mercedes C9. Following this, Sauber decided to enter Formula 1 in 1993, with support from Mercedes itself, running an engine built by the German company in collaboration with Ilmor. The team was instantly competitive and finished 7th, narrowly missing a podium finish. 1994 was very similar, but showed no improvements and Mercedes left the project to supply McLaren. Red Bull started sponsoring them and in 1995 and 1996 Sauber scored its first ever podium finishes. In 1997, Sauber started an alliance with Ferrari and Petronas, forming the subsidiary company Sauber Petronas Engineering, a engine-producing company who also mate a motorbike for Petronas's Superbike campaign. The alliance lasted until 2005, with the best year being 2001 with Sauber finishing 4th in the standings.

In 2006, BMW, who was supporting Williams in the previous years, decided to take over a big part of Sauber's assets, turning them into its works team and the Swiss team running as BMW Sauber. This alliance lasted until 2009 and were the team's most succesful years, even scoring its only win in the 2008 Canadian GP by Robert Kubica. This was also the year when Sauber actually fought for the title, but fell behind due to focusing on the development of the 2009 car. However, 2009 was a very disappointing season, and BMW withdrew from F1. Sauber returned as an independent company, although they kept the BMW Sauber name for 2010, and enjoyed some succesful years, with 2012 being their best one. However, when the new regulations came in 2014, Sauber fell behind and finished pointless, their worst year of the F1 era. From 2015 onwards, financial troubles came to light and in 2016 then-owner Monisha Kaltenborn sold the team to Longbow Finance. While there were rumours that they would become Honda's works team, they reformed their past alliance with Ferrari and also started an afilliation with Alfa Romeo, eventually running under the Italian name in 2019.

## 2020: Last year as Alfa Romeo

Sauber ran as Alfa Romeo in 2020, maintaining their last F1 lineup, Antonio Giovinazzi and veteran Kimi Raikkonen. This year was succesful, as they finished 6th in the standings, above Alpha Tauri and Racing Point, with Giovinazzi enduring his breakout season. The Italian scored 57 points and finished 11th on the standings. Raikkonen, who would retire at the end of the season, scored 21 points, with his final point-scoring position coming at Mexico.

## 2021-2024: Return as an independent company, decline and brief resurgence

In 2021, Ferrari ended its support of Sauber, shifting into supporting newcomers Prema as their feeder team. On the other hand, Giovinazzi was also promoted into the Ferrari team. The new lineup of the now-independent Sauber, reverted into its real name, were rookie John Cida, who also brought significant sponsorship, and veteran Nico Hulkenberg, who would spend his final year at the sport. The team with no support from Ferrari fell at the back of the grid and only scored 2 points and were the worst manufacturer of the season, even behind Prema. Next season proved to be even worse. Cida and McLaren reserve driver Rory Douglas failed to score a single point, and 2023 proved to be nearly the same, with Cida scoring only a single point. Mart Soosaar also raced for two races when Douglas raced for McLaren during that period.

2024 saw some minor improvements, as they were no longer the worst team of the grid. They also made an important signing by taking Dutch prodigy Giovanni de Ziel. The Dutchman proved to be a hit, as he scored the 2 points of the year. 2025 saw them further up the grid, outmatching Prema, Audi and in ocassions BMW Williams and Alpha Tauri. De Ziel scored 5 points and Cida 2 in what was the best season of the team post-Alfa Romeo.

## 2025-2029: Financial troubles, close calls and bankruptcy

However, from 2025 onwards, financial problems started to become clear as tthe team slipped again, scoring 2 points, one from each driver. Following this, de Ziel left the team and joined Red Bull. Cida, however, decided to stay and support the team for as long as possible. Due to his contributions, Cida was given a lifetime contract, becoming the team's number 1 driver. Cida also brought to the team a new driver, Finnish starlet Onni Korhonen who had burst onto the Formula International scene in extraordinary fashion. However, this year was even worse, going completely pointless. Korhonen also picked up a serious injury. During those races, Roman Massey was signed as a replacement. 2028 saw the team coming very close to bankruptcy, but they were spared, as Cida scored a stunning 5th place in Japan to give the team the funds needed to survive. Korhonen also scored his first and only point of his Formula Earth career.

Korhonen fell out of favour and was replaced by George Russell for 2029. Sauber managed to beat the backmarker group of Alpha Tauri, Haas and BMW Williams and were close to Audi and even Red Bull. Cida scored 3 points and Russell 2. However, despite those results, they were unable to get more funds to ran and failed to pay their massive debts. As a result of this, Sauber declared bankruptcy. The assets were sold to a Spanish consortium consisting of team principal Adrian Campos, Spanish fuel company Repsol and racing legends Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso and Marc Marquez, alongside support from Honda. The team formed is known as Campos Repsol Honda.

## Notable Drivers

* Antonio Giovinazzi (2020)
* Kimi Raikkonen (2020)
* John Cida (2021-2029)
* Nico Hulkenberg (2021)
* Rory Douglas (2022-2023)
* Mart Soosaar (2023)
* Giovanni de Ziel (2024-2026)
* Onni Korhonen (2027-2028)
* Roman Massey (2027)
* George Russell (2029)