Red Bull Motorsports
F1
Video: The evolution of Sauber F1 cars
Watch a transition through 20 years of Sauber Formula One cars.
Sauber made their debut in Formula One at the 1993 South African Grand Prix, the team are well known for punching above their weight, having done so on their debut, with JJ Lehto scoring an impressive fifth place in the C12.
Two years later Heinz-Harald Frentzen scored the Swiss team their first podium finish in Italy but the independent teams’ most successful year came when they put young drivers Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen in the Sauber C20, a risk that paid of handsomely when the team took 11 points finishes on the way to fourth in the championship.
The big change came when BMW bought the team for the 2006 season, with the Swiss outfit being renamed BMW Sauber, the Sauber name remaining thanks to Peter Sauber retaining 20% of the team. With BMW came plenty of success, none more so than in 2008 when Robert Kubica took victory at the Canadian Grand Prix and even mounted a title challenge.
BMW left the sport at the end of 2009, with Peter Sauber back in charge of the team. Since their return as an independent team success has been few and far between, although Sergio Perez did score their best result to date with a second place at Monza and Sepang – where the Mexican came so close to victory.
