For decades, the Sauber name has been a staple on the Formula One grid and in motorsport. Sauber Motorsport was founded by Peter Sauber in 1970 and began in endurance racing, where they saw success. They became the works team for Mercedes-Benz and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989. With all of that success, Sauber made the move into F1 when they made their debut at the 1993 season opener in South Africa. That was the beginning of over 30 years of history, which was built by a man from Zürich.

Humble beginnings

At 27 years old, Peter Sauber took over the family traffic light business from his father. At the time, he wasn’t interested in motorsports, but it wasn’t long after that that he entered the industry. What happened? They won the Swiss Sportscar Championship in 1970.

Going from a cellar to a full-on works team, Sauber won the Nurburgring 1000kms in 1986 with their Mercedes-powered car. With all of that success, it was time to head to the pinnacle of the sport. Mercedes and Sauber were to continue their partnership in F1. That never happened, because Mercedes had decided not to follow through. Peter Sauber didn’t stop there. As someone who grew the team from nothing, he wasn’t going to let this setback stop him. He decided to take his team into Formula One beginning the 1993 season.

Early years in Formula One

At the 1993 South African Grand Prix, the new Formula One season began, this time with Sauber on the grid. The team saw success early on with JJ Lehto finishing fifth on that day. That continued, and while a switch in engine supplier to Ford happened in 1995, nothing changed. Heinz-Harald Frantzen scored a podium in Italy that year. Frantzen continued to string together multiple solid races for the team. Over the course of three seasons, he got one podium and multiple fourth and fifth-place finishes.

While there are many individual successes in terms of garnering high positions, Sauber never really broke past sixth in the Constructors Championship. Beginning in 1996, Petronas joined as a title sponsor. Red Bull Sauber Petronas brought in Johnny Herbert, who was near the end of motorsport career by that point.

Kimi Räikkönen

The 2001 Australian Grand Prix saw a 21-year-old driver from Espoo, Finland, make his debut. Kimi Räikkönen, a future World Champion, began his career with Sauber. Spending just the 2001 season with the Swiss outfit, Räikkönen scored fourth at both Austria and Canada, along with a fifth at Silverstone.

Independent success

In 2002, Red Bull left as they began circulating to enter as their own works team, which they did in 2005. From 2002 to 2005, it was Sauber Petronas on the grid, and it was here that they had some consistent success. Fifth, sixth, sixth, and eighth in the Constructors, Sauber found a groove for a few years. Heinz-Harald Frentzen came back for 2002 and 2003. Canadian Jacques Villeneuve joined in 2005 to partner alongside legend Felipe Massa. The team was a factory of talent, with so many future world champions and race winners’ journeys going through the Swiss team.

BMW Sauber

It was yet another name change when BMW bought Sauber in 2006 and renamed the team BMW Sauber. When discussing the history of Sauber in F1, these were the best years the team had. In 2006, they started fifth in the Constructors’ with hotshot Robert Kubica becoming a mainstay on the grid midway through the year. In 2007, it was second in the Constructors Championship. The pairing of Kubica and Nick Heidfeld was one of the best, with Sebastian Vettel making his Formula One debut in the USA that season for Sauber. In 2008, Vettel left for Scuderia Toro Rosso, and Heidfeld and Kubica led the way to third in the Championship. Kubica also won the Canadian Grand Prix that year.

The latter end of BMW’s spell in F1 was rather disappointing compared to the first half. Sixth and eighth in the Championship, as the global economy took a hit, BMW withdrew from the sport, handing the reins back to Peter Sauber.

Back at the helm

From 2011 to 2018, Sauber took a major step back, being near the back of the pack, even finishing 10th in the standings on multiple occasions. In October of 2012, Peter Sauber semi-retired and began a more limited role with the team. He handed over the role of Team Principal and sold the team to Longbow Finance.

Being powered by Ferrari engines since BMW’s departure, they basically became a feeder team for Ferrari Academy products, especially at this time. While we saw the likes of Sergio Pérez, Kamui Kobayashi, Nico Hülkenberg, and Marcus Ericsson, the big name to roll through the Sauber garage in this time frame is Charles Leclerc.

The current golden boy at Ferrari spent the first year of his career learning the ropes at Sauber. As for the team itself, the future looked grim. Financial problems had occurred, and it wasn’t feasible to continue running a midfield team. With the team at an all-time low in the standings, the injection of Alfa Romeo brought some enthusiasm.

Later years

As Alfa Romeo entered, the driver lineup saw a shakeup. At the end of his career, Kimi Räikkönen rejoined the team that gave him his start, joined alongside Antonio Giovinazzi, a product of the Ferrari Driver Academy. For three seasons (2019–2021), the team was in the bottom three of the standings. Nowhere to go, as the new regulations in 2022 kicked in and Räikkönen decided to retire, Giovinazzi was replaced as well.

Zhou Guanyu and Valterri Bottas became the two drivers, and it started with Alfa Romeo finishing sixth in the standings. Off a good season, the hope was for the team to continue gaining ground on the rest of the midfield. That wasn’t the case. It was right back to ninth in the standings for Alfa Romeo, and that was it for them in the sport.

It was once again Sauber, this time Stake F1 Kick Sauber was the name. After finishing ninth again in 2024, it was time to look to the future. Heading into 2025, it was clear this would be the last-ever season for Sauber in Formula One as Audi looked to join. Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto made the jump from F2, and Nico Hülkenberg came back to the team.

While the season wasn’t great, it was a send-off to a legend of motorsport. At 82-years-old Peter Sauber is stepping away. From little to no interest in motorsport and just taking over his father’s business, to winning Le Mans and having his name in the pinnacle of motorsport for over 30 years. You cannot talk about the history of F1 without mentioning many people, including Enzo Ferrari, Sir Frank Williams, and Peter Sauber.

Onto the future

Audi Revolut F1 Team are going to be on the grid beginning in the 2026 season. The livery has been revealed, the lineup is set, and the team is primed to make an impact. It has been years since Audi looked into joining F1, meaning they have been preparing for this moment. They will look to be fully a part of the midfield this upcoming season.