Sauber
| |
| Full Name | British Airways Sauber F1 Team |
| Base | Hinwil, Switzerland |
| Founder(s) | Template:SUI Peter Sauber |
| Team Principal(s) |  Monisha Kaltenborn
|
| Technical Director | Template:USA Brendon Crane (Chief Designer) |
| Current Lineup | |
 Pastor MaldonadoTemplate:GBR Dean Stoneman |
Formula One |
| Noted Former Drivers | |
 Kamui Kobayashi  Evgeny Restov
|
|
Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team based in Hinwil, Switzerland. The team was founded by Peter Sauber and first entered Formula One in the mid-1990s.
Between 2006 and 2010 the team was owned and operated by German auto manufacturer BMW and ran under the BMW Sauber banner.
Formula One
1998
By 1998, Sauber were a year into their thinly-veiled partnership with Ferrari and began the season with the partnership of Jean Alesi and Daniel Moreno. The pair would not exactly light the field on fire, the best result coming from Alesi - a fifth place finish in Monte-Carlo.
At the British Grand Prix, Alesi and Moreno would be ousted and replaced by the British pairing of Eddie Irvine and Tom Douglas. Douglas would take Sauber's best finish of 1998, with a fourth place finish at the season-ending Portuguese Grand Prix.
1999
It was all change once again in 1999, with Ferrari tester Luca Badoer and 1998 reserve Rhys Davies filling the Swiss team's seats. Davies had a fair decent first season in F1, taking points on three occasions - his best being a fifth place on merit in the Austrian Grand Prix. Badoer scored sixth place finishes twice as Sauber finished in seventh overall in the constructor's standings.
2000
Davies remained in 2000 and was joined by two-time World Championship runner-up David Coulthard. The team were still way back on their rivals - with very few points scores all season. Davies bettered his best result with a fourth place in the European Grand Prix - but that was one of the few highlights of yet another frustrating season.
2001
Rhys Davies left for Williams ahead of 2001 - with Nick Heidfeld taking his place alongside Coulthard. Sauber were much more consistent in this season, with Coulthard even able to score a rare podium finish with a third place in the Spanish Grand Prix. This was a much needed step forward for the Swiss team and as such they were able to finish in a distant fourth in the World Constructor's Championship.
2002
2002 saw Ferrari tester Felipe Massa be placed at the team alongside Coulthard, although this was canned after only two races - with Formula 3000 standout Sebastién Bourdais replacing him. Coulthard took the team's best result in the second race, with a second podium in as many years - this time in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Bourdais and Coulthard were both semi-regular points scorers, but the team slipped into fifth place with the emergence of Renault as a contender.
2003
Bourdais became the team's defacto leader when Coulthard departed for Jaguar in a multi-year deal - with Jordan's Finnish youngster Kimi Räikkönen moving to Sauber alongside him. Both drivers struggled in the early stages of the season and Bourdais left the team after the British Grand Prix. Bourdais was replaced by BAR's Justin Wilson - however he failed to make any real impact on proceedings. In contrast, Räikkönen managed to nail some real decent results in the latter half of the season - being enough to finish in eleventh place. Despite this, Sauber would finish in ninth place in the Constructor's standings - only being able to beat a woeful Minardi.
2004
Ferrari made an another attempt at placing a tester at Sauber, this time giving Australian sensation Daniel Melrose the opportunity alongside Räikkönen. With the FOTA/FIA boycott of races within the European Union, the season was severely shortened which limited the development opportunities throughout the year. Even with a shortened season, Melrose managed several strong results - his best being third in the Bahrain Grand Prix. Sauber were perhaps unlucky to only get this one podium - with many pundits speculating that more would have likely come in Europe had the races taken place. Sauber finished the season in fifth place, ahead of McLaren among others.
2005
Both Räikkönen and Melrose found employment further up the grid at Renault and Ferrari respectively - meaning Sauber had to fill both seats once again. Sauber opted for experience rather than youth this time, taking on 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve and former Ferrari and Jaguar man Pedro de la Rosa as their driver personnel. Villeneuve was something of a revelation, with the Canadian seemingly on pace once again having spent a number of years away. De la Rosa however was absolutely nowhere - and as such was replaced after the British Grand Prix by Australian V8 Supercars driver Dave Simpson whom was making his F1 debut.