Sauber will, throughout its varied guises, have fun its 600th System 1 grand prix at Imola – if we rely the races between 2019 and 2023 when it competed as Alfa Romeo. And we must always, given it was nonetheless ostensibly operated by Sauber Motorsport AG…
In that point, the Hinwil outfit has loved precipitous highs and a few disastrous lows – some that very almost put it out of enterprise round a decade in the past. But it survived, and can metamorphose into Audi subsequent season.
To have fun 600 races, we have picked out Sauber’s most necessary moments. They are not all highlights per se, however as a substitute a microcosm of its journey as a group.
1993 South African GP – Lehto scores debut factors after reliability disaster-class
Lehto recovered from a two-lap-long pitstop to clinch debut factors for Sauber
Photograph by: Motorsport Pictures
By no means thoughts that Sauber initially got here in with the plan of fronting a Mercedes works group – the disclaimer of “idea by” in entrance of the Mercedes-Benz badging on the engine cowl merely acknowledged that it was something however. Regardless of tentative Mercedes help within the lower and thrust of the season, Sauber made a splash when it jumped into F1 after years of success within the World Sportscar Championship.
First noteworthy factor about that: the Sauber C12 really was a factor of magnificence. With a design directed by Harvey Postlethwaite, the group draped the shapely C12 in an all-black livery barely tainted by the presence of sponsors; amid the context of the period, one might need surmised that the group’s funds won’t have been in significantly wholesome form, significantly because the group sprouted up whereas an entire grid’s value of outfits had gone bust in recent times. That was till the automobiles, piloted by JJ Lehto and Karl Wendlinger, hit the observe.
It turned instantly apparent that the C12 was fast. Each automobiles broke into the highest 10 on the grid for the Kyalami season opener with Lehto sixth – albeit nearly three seconds off Alain Prost’s 1m15.696s pole time – and Wendlinger an additional three tenths again in Tenth. Karl Wendlinger’s monster (and unlawful) begin and Damon Hill’s spin had the Saubers as much as fourth and fifth by the tip of the primary lap, though the Austrian had a stop-go penalty to serve for leaping the gun.
There have been, nevertheless, teething issues with the brand new automotive; Lehto stopped on the finish of lap six with an obvious gearbox management system difficulty, which price him two laps, and Wendlinger had his personal electrical points and retired somewhat beneath midway by way of the race.
However Lehto obtained his simply desserts later; with wonderful tempo, the Finn drove exquisitely to make sure he was not lapped by the frontrunners any additional. Subsequent, he stored the automotive going and, amid the attrition, discovered himself throughout the factors within the closing laps when Derek Warwick spun off. He then upgraded sixth into fifth when Gerhard Berger’s Ferrari powerplant gave up the ghost.
1995 Italian GP – Frentzen claims first Sauber podium
Frentzen took Sauber to its first F1 podium in solely its third ever season
Photograph by: Motorsport Pictures
By 1995, Sauber had consolidated its place in System 1. It had scored 12 factors in every of its two seasons so far, though it hadn’t solely averted the ‘troublesome second album’ when Karl Wendlinger suffered a horrific observe accident at Monaco and was dominated out of the remainder of the season. The Austrian had returned for 1995, however the after-effects of his crash within the earlier yr meant that he was a shadow of his former self. It was as much as Heinz-Harald Frentzen to guide the road, as Wendlinger and Sauber reluctantly determined to half methods and Jean-Christophe Boullion was properly off the German’s tempo.
Sauber and Mercedes had additionally break up after a prolonged affiliation; Mercedes went to McLaren, and so Sauber started a works relationship with Ford – successfully a wedding of comfort, as Benetton had defected to Renault energy.
Frentzen took the first-ever Crimson Bull-liveried Sauber to a glut of points-scoring finishes, opening with three factors within the opening three races. And the factors continued to slowly rack up, protecting the group in a battle with Ligier and Jordan over fifth – maybe even with McLaren for fourth – within the constructors’ championship. However, the place Ligier clinched a podium at that yr’s Belgian GP courtesy of Martin Brundle, as Jordan had already managed a 2-3 consequence at Montreal, Sauber was but to ever make the step onto the podium.
It did not essentially appear to be Monza was going to supply that, particularly when the Tenth-starting Frentzen was mugged off the road by Brundle and Eddie Irvine. However there was a stunning degree of attrition among the many frontrunners; polesitter Coulthard had already collected a keep of execution when his formation-lap spin finally went unpunished, though a wheel difficulty later knocked him out of the reckoning.
Damon Hill nerfed Michael Schumacher off the street when the 2 had been lapping Taki Inoue, then later, each Ferraris endured their very own bizarre retirements; Jean Alesi’s on-board digicam fell off and worn out Berger’s front-left suspension, with the Frenchman retiring in a while.
This rewarded Frentzen with a handful of positions throughout the race, however the Moenchengladbach native had additionally re-passed Brundle early-doors after which moved previous Irvine and Mark Blundell with a well-timed pit name that supplied a neatly wrapped undercut. By the flag, and because of Alesi’s late retirement, this was sufficient for third place, behind Johnny Herbert and Mika Hakkinen.
1997 Hungarian GP – Herbert is third wheel in Villeneuve/Hill scuffle
Herbert confirmed nice tempo on the Goodyears in Hungary – on a day when Bridgestones reigned supreme
Photograph by: Motorsport Pictures
Though Sauber misplaced its works Ford deal to Stewart after simply two seasons, it a minimum of managed to safe an engine contract that successfully lasted both aspect of its BMW interregnum – doing a cope with Ferrari to tackle its ’96 engines, and have them branded by Petronas.
That yr’s C16 was a reasonably helpful automotive too, one which Johnny Herbert took to a sequence of spectacular outcomes – the Briton certified within the prime eight in 4 of the opening 5 races. Herbert scored all of that yr’s factors, save for the only real level that Nicola Larini managed within the Australia opener; Herbert might need been on for an excellent consequence Down Beneath and was set to problem for third within the opening nook after a vibrant begin. Eddie Irvine thought in any other case, and Herbert turned collateral within the Irvine/Villeneuve conflict at Flip 1.
Herbert had been fortunate in securing his first podium for the group in 1996, which emerged in that yr’s Monaco Grand Prix, however his efforts on the Hungaroring in 1997 had been way more worthy of silverware. On a day when the Bridgestone runners discovered extra efficiency in excessive temperatures whereas the Goodyears had been hit-or-miss, Herbert managed to discover a groove with the American model’s tyres – beginning by overtaking each Benettons on the opening lap. The three-stopping Ferraris yielded additional observe place, as Herbert was simply as fast as Schumacher to make sure there was no benefit to be gained from stopping yet another time.
When Coulthard retired from third, Herbert bagged the primary podium of the Sauber-Ferrari relationship to hitch Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill – the latter lacking out on victory resulting from an oil strain difficulty on the final lap. This was Herbert’s closing podium for the group, as 1998 proved to be a torrid yr for the Essex-born racer.
2001 Australian GP – Double factors end units up aggressive yr
Heidfeld claimed his first F1 factors at Albert Park after a torrid debut yr at Prost
Photograph by: Motorsport Pictures
Sauber had regressed within the years after 1997. Jean Alesi’s 1998 Spa-Francorchamps podium was the one rostrum go to throughout the next three seasons, and the group had develop into a byword for ‘unambitious midfield outfit’ that struggled to draw drivers. Alesi left on the finish of 1999 for Prost, Pedro Diniz hung up his helmet on the finish of 2000, and Mika Salo determined he’d fairly spend a yr testing Toyota’s alpha F1 automotive than race for Sauber for 2001. Thus, Peter Sauber needed to return to his roots of choosing younger drivers, fairly than prioritising expertise.
First was McLaren junior Nick Heidfeld, who spent 2000 quietly impressing versus Alesi in a distinctly unreliable Prost. Lots of F1’s midfield suspects had been linked to the second seat – Alex Wurz, Ricardo Zonta et al., however Crimson Bull was eager to shoehorn its personal junior product Enrique Bernoldi into the automotive. As a substitute, Sauber fielded a phonecall from Jenson Button’s supervisor David Robertson, who requested if he’d give a teen by identify of Kimi Raikkonen a go…
Raikkonen’s debut was preceded by the circumstance that he’d solely pushed in 23 single-seater races and thus would solely be granted a provisional superlicence. His first race fairly decreed that this was an irrelevance.
Heidfeld put his Sauber C20 Tenth on the grid, with Raikkonen taking thirteenth in his first F1 qualifying session. After Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve had their unsettling crash early on, Heidfeld was already as much as eighth – which turned seventh when the protection automotive ended. Retirements for Hakkinen and Jarno Trulli in a while into the race moved Heidfeld as much as fifth on the flag. Within the meantime, Raikkonen had his personal adventures; an iffy begin meant that he’d ceded a handful of positions on the opening tour however, as soon as the protection automotive was cleared, he’d made up some floor. The Finn reeled off strikes on Alesi, Button, then Fisichella within the subsequent laps, and on the flag had shaken out in seventh. Nevertheless it wasn’t fairly over; Olivier Panis then obtained a time penalty for overtaking beneath yellow flags, transferring Heidfeld as much as fourth and Raikkonen into sixth.
Sauber positioned fourth in that yr’s championship – a signficant turnaround following its regression both aspect of the flip of the millennium, and Raikkonen gazumped Heidfeld to take McLaren’s vacant seat in 2002 when Mika Hakkinen went on a sabbatical…
2006 Hungary GP – First BMW podium, first Kubica race
Heidfeld claimed the group’s first podium with BMW energy in 2006’s rain-affected Hungary spherical
Photograph by: Sutton Pictures
Numerous set items introduced BMW and Sauber collectively, however the important thing one was the deterioration in relationship between BMW and Williams. Feeling it wished extra affect, BMW took its enterprise (and engines) elsewhere, and purchased a majority stake in Sauber – which was on the lookout for new shareholders following the departure of Crimson Bull a couple of seasons prior. The Sauber identify was retained to successfully minimise TV rights cash faff.
After impressing BMW’s key figures throughout his temporary foray at Williams in 2005, Nick Heidfeld was introduced again to Sauber. For continuity, Jacques Villeneuve was retained following a middling season during which he was largely put within the shade by Ferrari-bound Felipe Massa. Though the 1997 champion bagged BMW’s first factors as a manufacturing unit group in Malaysia, he was severely outperformed by Heidfeld – and BMW had been on the lookout for a approach to convey promising reserve driver Robert Kubica into the automotive.
The reigning System Renault 3.5 Sequence champion, Kubica was making a reputation for himself as third driver at BMW, again when the principles permitted an additional automotive for sure groups on Fridays. And, when Villeneuve crashed at Hockenheim and got here away from the incident with some minor ache, BMW chief Mario Thiessen determined this was sufficient of a motive to ‘relaxation’ the Canadian and gave Kubica a go in Hungary.
In a moist race, Heidfeld introduced residence the group’s headline consequence with third – behind first-time winner Jenson Button and McLaren stand-in Pedro de la Rosa. However arguably, the eyes had been on Kubica; the Pole had outqualified his team-mate on the first time of asking, and had crossed the road in seventh to vindicate BMW’s determination to change drivers.
His disqualification was the hair within the soup; Kubica’s automotive was underweight, and thus his two factors had been stricken from the file. Two rounds later, Kubica claimed his personal podium at Monza. This demonstrated additional vindication – even probably the most ardent Villeneuve fan may scarcely battle that argument.
2008 Canadian GP – Kubica’s (and Sauber’s) solely F1 win
Kubica and Heidfeld have fun their Montreal 1-2 for BMW
Photograph by: Sutton Pictures
That is the spotlight, absolutely. After bringing itself into rivalry for normal podiums in 2007, BMW raised its recreation considerably by 2008 and was good worth to interlope between the Ferraris and McLarens ought to the circumstances enable. Due to McLaren’s disqualification from the 2007 standings, BMW had secured second within the constructors’ championship and optimistically hoped to go one higher.
Though Heidfeld had led the best way throughout 2007, Kubica now had the higher hand with the ’08 automotive. Heidfeld clinched second within the Australia opener, Kubica was second in Malaysia, after which scored third from pole in Bahrain. There was an ebb and stream to the early-season weekends; typically McLaren had the benefit, typically Ferrari – BMW was ready for its personal flip.
That arrived in Montreal, albeit with some intervention from Lewis Hamilton. The Briton led Kubica handily within the opening laps however, when Adrian Sutil crashed out at Flip 3 on the sixteenth lap, the pitlane had develop into standard as this coincided with the pit window opening. Hamilton had a gradual cease versus Kubica and Ferrari’s Raikkonen and got here out into the quick lane behind them – however this was in a interval when the pit exit would invariably shut mid-race. As such, Raikkonen and Kubica had been ready on the exit – which Hamilton didn’t discover and successfully had the selection of which automotive to crash into as he obtained on the brakes too late.
He went into Raikkonen, and Nico Rosberg adopted swimsuit. This left Kubica injury free, and allowed him to pursue the brand new race chief – the one-stopping Heidfeld. Kubica, operating to a two-stopper, caught and handed his team-mate, after which constructed up sufficient of a lead to make sure he was 5 seconds clear as soon as he’d stopped for a second time. Nonetheless, BMW secured its first and solely 1-2 end – placing Kubica prime of the drivers’ championship.
However the Pole’s hopes of sustaining the momentum scarcely got here to move; BMW selected to concentrate on 2009 within the second half of the yr, a lot to Kubica’s chagrin. Nonetheless, his Montreal effort was spectacular, given it got here a yr after his almighty barrel-roll on the identical course.
2012 Malaysian GP – Perez nearly beats Alonso to win
Perez braved troublesome situations and was on Alonso’s gearbox when the circuit dried up – however slipped off the street
Photograph by: Sutton Pictures
Within the intervening years, BMW had constructed a poor 2009 automotive, agreed to promote the group to an organization often known as Qadbak Investments – which turned out to be a shell firm with no tangible property, after which finally bought it again to Peter Sauber when the sooner deal was not accomplished on. It hilariously ran as “BMW Sauber-Ferrari” in 2010 after which returned to its previous identify for the next season, because it bedded itself again into the midfield with the thrilling Kamui Kobayashi and rookie Sergio Perez.
Perez carved out a distinct segment as a driver who was extremely delicate together with his tyres which, with 2012’s Pirellis, proved to be an extremely priceless talent. That yr, the rubber was extremely variable – seven totally different drivers gained within the opening seven races, though it may have very almost been eight in eight had Perez gone one higher in Malaysia and overwhelmed Fernando Alonso.
The Mexican lined up ninth, with many of the discipline beginning on intermediates – however the Sepang venue was a lot wetter than it regarded, and Perez switched to the total moist tyre after the opening lap. Most persevered for a couple of extra laps earlier than it turned extra prudent to change, which elevated Perez as much as third, such was his higher grip on the blue-walled tyre.
On the ninth lap, the race was red-flagged because the situations worsened – and restarted for a couple of extra excursions behind the protection automotive. When Button pitted for inters earlier than the restart, Perez was as much as second; and this briefly turned the lead when Hamilton emulated his team-mate a lap later. Alonso adopted Hamilton in, and the Briton’s dreadful cease ensured the Ferrari was forward of each McLarens, Button having arguably stopped a lap too quickly.
Perez struggled for traction by way of the primary advanced of corners, and this allowed Alonso to hold it out extensive and out-drag the Sauber driver for the lead. The Ferrari driver then continued to construct a lead, which hit its zenith on lap 30 (7.7s) earlier than Perez began to return again at him. By the tip of lap 34, the hole was 5.7s; by the tip of lap 38, it was 2.3s. Clearly, the intermediates had been operating out of life on the Ferrari.
When Perez obtained to inside a second, Alonso boxed for slicks and Sauber went a lap longer – a call that did not repay one iota, as its #15 automotive was now over seven seconds adrift. Regardless of Alonso’s tyre benefit in operating on mediums and Perez on the hards, he very quickly began to chop the hole as soon as extra and sat on the Spaniard’s tail by the tip of lap 49. He had DRS for the beginning of lap 50 and regarded like he was resulting from make a problem, however a name from the group to minimise threat appeared to place Perez off his stride – he went extensive at Flip 14, which ended his cost and left him to be content material with second.
2015 Australian GP – Staff shrugs off point-less 2014, and court docket case, for an enormous payday
Nasr put collectively a wonderful debut race, amid Sauber’s off-track contract wrangles, to attain factors at Albert Park
Photograph by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Pictures
Sauber had an inexpensive 2013 as Nico Hulkenberg’s star rose in his preliminary sole season with the group, however 2014 was horrible; neither Adrian Sutil nor Esteban Gutierrez scored factors, leaving the Swiss outfit scoreless for the primary time. Moreover, the group was in monetary dire straits, not helped by slipping behind the Manor Marussia group within the constructors’ standings.
The group needed to resort to 2 paying drivers for 2015 – Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. The factor was that it had already signed a driver who’d introduced money to the group, in its 2014 reserve Giedo van der Garde. The Dutchman understood that his contract for a race drive had not been honoured, and an arbitration in Switzerland sided with van der Garde. This was then taken to the Supreme Courtroom of Victoria days earlier than the opening spherical, with it upholding van der Garde’s declare to the seat; Sauber had tried to battle the case on the idea the automotive couldn’t be ready for his body in time, after which misplaced an enchantment towards the court docket’s ruling.
Van der Garde was even seen within the build-up to the Melbourne weekend in Ericsson’s overalls, though Sauber didn’t nominate him to drive at any stage. As such, it missed FP1 to keep away from its property being seized. Each Ericsson and Nasr took half in FP2 as van der Garde declined to race, and later was awarded round $16 million in alternate for cancelling his contract and returning any cash paid by that stage.
This had threatened to overshadow Sauber’s sturdy begin to the yr however, by the point the weekend obtained going, the group was in a position to shine. In an attritional race that had claimed Kevin Magnussen (deputising for Alonso after his thriller testing crash), Valtteri Bottas (resulting from a again damage) and Daniil Kvyat earlier than it even started, the retirement of each Lotuses helped Nasr as much as sixth – which turned fifth as soon as he’d gazumped Carlos Sainz after an early security automotive. Ericsson then dispatched Sainz late on to say eighth. Having scored nothing in all of 2014, Sauber already had 14 factors after the opening spherical.
2016 Brazil GP – Nasr’s factors sink his personal F1 profession, however symbolic of Sauber survival
Nasr clinched two factors to make sure Sauber claimed prize cash – however his hopes of staying on the grid with Manor had been subsequently nixed
Photograph by: Jose Maria Rubio
Sauber did not fairly kick on after that; it was able to good performances on its day in 2015, however lack of funds meant that it was troublesome to become the season. The group then slumped once more in the beginning of 2016 and was resigned to battle towards the Manor group in the back of the order – even newcomers Haas had leapfrogged the groups on the rear. Due to the van der Garde payout and a scarcity of sponsors past those who Nasr and Ericsson had introduced with them, Sauber seemed to be circling the drain
Pascal Wehrlein’s level for Manor on the Austrian Grand Prix broken the Swiss group even additional, because it remained scoreless for the overwhelming majority of the season. However a saviour was in ready; TetraPak billionaire Finn Rausing was one in all a handful of traders concerned within the Longbow Finance group that took over the group.
Nevertheless it was nonetheless resulting from finish the yr with out a level and, crucially, with out the funds from FOM made to those that completed within the prime 10. On the penultimate spherical in Brazil, Ericsson and Nasr locked out the again row in qualifying, though each moved up a spot when Manor’s Esteban Ocon was caught impeding Jolyon Palmer in Q1.
The race started beneath the protection automotive and, a couple of laps after the ‘restart’, Ericsson crashed on the thirteenth tour to convey out a security automotive. As a number of different drivers had switched to intermediates, Nasr had stayed out on wets and thus had cycled out in ninth – which then turned eighth, then seventh… then, for a time, sixth amid two purple flags.
When the race lastly resumed, Nasr may do little about among the sooner automobiles; Hulkenberg, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo all discovered their well past to place the house favorite again into ninth – with Ocon simply behind and searching for to problem the Brazilian for ninth. However, when Fernando Alonso put a transfer on Ocon to relegate the rookie Frenchman from the factors, Nasr held on to clinch two important factors for Sauber.
For his F1 profession, this was to Nasr’s detriment. He’d been in talks with Manor for a drive in 2017, as Wehrlein was set to go the opposite approach, however the lack of ‘Column 2’ prize cash successfully killed off the British group – as vitality magnate Stephen Fitzpatrick (who purchased the group on the eve of the 2015 season) didn’t discover a purchaser.
2018 Azerbaijan GP – Leclerc’s first F1 factors
Leclerc’s first F1 factors arrived in a zany Baku race
Photograph by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Pictures
Since that bacon-saving 2016 Brazil race, Sauber had undergone an enormous interval of change beneath new possession. First was the arrival of a brand new group principal in Frederic Vasseur, who had departed Renault on the finish of 2016 amid a battle with managing director Cyril Abiteboul. Vasseur cancelled a Honda deal arrange by predecessor Monisha Kaltenborn, and as a substitute did a deal for modern Ferrari powertrains – fairly than the one-year-old models it utilized in 2017.
This paved the best way to a title sponsorship cope with Alfa Romeo, which later turned a naming deal from 2019-2023. With the renewed Ferrari hyperlinks, Wehrlein was out – and the reigning System 2 champion Charles Leclerc was signed for 2018. The infant-faced Monegasque discovered it robust getting in his opening three races and was outqualified by Ericsson within the first two, earlier than placing the C37 automotive half a second forward in China. Then, in Baku, Leclerc broke into Q2 for the primary time.
In F2, Leclerc proved to be a Baku specialist – he recovered from the demise of his father by chalking up pole, a characteristic win, and a dash second en path to his title within the junior class.
Amid a messy begin to the race, precipitated by Raikkonen’s conflict with Ocon and Sergey Sirotkin being pincered by Alonso and Hulkenberg, Leclerc was as much as the factors by the point the protection automotive had come and gone. And the rookie greater than held his personal with strikes on Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll to convey himself additional up the order, earlier than biking again into Tenth after the mid-race stops.
When Ricciardo and Verstappen collided, this turned eighth, then seventh when Romain Grosjean misplaced the automotive and hit the wall after a phantom contact from Ericsson (who was nowhere close to the Frenchman on the time). When Valtteri Bottas suffered a puncture whereas main, Leclerc moved as much as sixth – kickstarting his yr, which led to spectacular kind as Sauber improved over the ultimate a part of the season and laid the groundwork to his Ferrari transfer.
Photograph by: Sutton Pictures
On this article
Jake Boxall-Legge
System 1
Sauber
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