Sauber

Sauber, founded and managed by Peter Sauber, is a Formula One team based in Hinwil, Switzerland. The team's first Formula One season was in 1993. 2005 will be its final season after it was bought by the German carmaker (and current Formula One engine supplier) BMW in June 2005.

Related Topics:
Peter Sauber - Formula One - Hinwil - Switzerland - 1993 - 2005 - German - BMW

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Before is involvement in Formula One, Sauber participated in some other racing seroes such as the Swiss and International Sportscars championship and the 24 hours of Le Mans. The first Sauber car C1 was built in 1970.

Related Topics:
Sportscars - 24 hours of Le Mans - 1970

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Sauber entered Formula One for the first time in 1993. It had a successful start, with Sauber driver JJ Lehto finishing in fifth position in Sauber's first race. However, it was not a sign of times to come. Sauber was never able to consistently challenge the bigger teams. Its most successful season was 2002 when it finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship. The rest of the time, however, Sauber cars were more likely to be closer to the back of the field than the front.

Related Topics:
1993 - JJ Lehto - 2002

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From the mid-1990s Sauber had close ties with Ferrari. Sauber used Ferrari designed engines and gearboxes built by Sauber Petronas Engineering, a company founded for the sole purpose of building these engines, that are nearly identical to the ones used by Ferrari. Sauber licences nearly every legally licensable part from Ferrari and even has several Ferrari engineers on staff. Many have pointed out suspicious similarities between Ferrari and Sauber chassis, but no formal accusations have ever been made (FIA rules require each team to design their own chassis).

Related Topics:
Ferrari - Petronas - FIA

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In 2004 Sauber had 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. This is one aspect that attracted BMW Motorsport to Sauber.

Related Topics:
2004 - Wind tunnel - Hinwil - Supercomputer - BMW Motorsport

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In its later years, Sauber's links with Ferrari had been becoming weaker. They sided with the non-Ferrari teams over planned rule changes at the end of the 2004 season and also have joined up with GPWC (which BMW are now involved with). Then they decided to switch to Michelin tyres, while Ferrari still use Bridgestones. With the BMW announcement, Sauber would appear to have severed all ties with Ferrari. Ferrari, on the other hand, probably won't miss supplying Sauber, having secured an engine deal with Red Bull Racing that will start from 2006.

Related Topics:
2004 - GPWC - Michelin - Bridgestone - Red Bull Racing

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