The Sauber name is no longer present in Formula 1. The takeover of the racing team by German car manufacturer Audi marks the end of an eventful and moving history after 33 seasons.
09.12.2025, 04:00
09.12.2025, 16:06
SDA
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- After 617 race weekends and 614 Grands Prix contested, it's over: at the start of the coming season, the Sauber name will no longer exist in Formula 1.
- From next year, the German Audi Group will officially call the shots in Hinwil.
- A look back at an eventful and moving history.
The bon mot had suggested itself. For the commentators, Peter Sauber's announcement was a "clean sweep". Back then, 33 years ago in January, the Zurich native officially announced his entry into Formula 1 with a private team. It was an entry on a private basis, because the original plan to take the big step onto the biggest stage alongside Mercedes had vanished into thin air.
The project had been launched in the previous summer by the two partners, who had previously been successful together in the World Sports Car Championship. However, the intentions came to nothing. The top management of the luxury brand ordered the withdrawal from the racing scene. In Stuttgart, they cited the tense economic situation as the reason for the decision.
So Peter Sauber was on his own with his newly built factory on the company premises - and faced with the decision to put a stop to the plan to continue competing in other racing series, as he had done since the founding of PP Sauber AG in 1970, or to go it alone. With his switch to Formula 1, the entrepreneur demonstrated one of the character traits that had characterized him throughout his entire life in the world of motorsport, and which stood him in good stead during the numerous difficult phases when the team was on the (financial) brink, when the Formula 1 adventure was like walking a tightrope.
From a sporting point of view, Peter Sauber was able to enter a success in the internal history book right at the premiere. In mid-March 1993, the Finn JJ Lehto scored the first two world championship points with fifth place in the South African Grand Prix in Kyalami. At that time, only the first six places yielded any tangible results. The first of 28 finishes in the top three followed two and a half years later. Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished third in the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.
Like his compatriot Michael Schumacher and the Austrian Karl Wendlinger, the German Frentzen was part of the Zurich-based racing team's first junior program. They were three of the many young drivers who were able to take their first steps in the top segment of motor racing thanks to Peter Sauber. In addition to Frentzen, the prudent patron also made it possible for Kimi Räikkönen, Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc, among others, to enter Formula 1.
The brief partnership with BMW
The Sauber team experienced its most successful phase during its brief partnership with BMW. The only victory in Formula 1, in the Canadian Grand Prix, also occurred during this time. In June 2008, Robert Kubica from Poland won in Montreal ahead of his German team-mate Nick Heidfeld. Peter Sauber believed that the takeover of his team by the car manufacturer from Munich would secure the continuation of his life's work. It was a false conclusion. The connection to Bavaria did not last long. As part of a "strategic realignment of the company", as Norbert Reithofer, then Chairman of the Board of Management, put it in September 2009, BMW withdrew from Formula 1 after four years.
The announcement of his departure came as a complete surprise even to Peter Sauber. Two months later, he was once again the strong man in his team. The buyback was actually an "impossible mission" for him, especially as the transaction was far too expensive, he once said. "Nevertheless, I believed in a future and used my financial resources to save the company from closure." Sauber took over the reins again after the conditions for a contract between BMW AG and Qadbak, a foundation that represents the interests of well-heeled families in the Middle East and Europe, were not met.
The next castling took place seven years later. Longbow Finance SA, a financial investment company based in Lutry in the canton of Vaud, took over 100 percent of Sauber Holding AG, which also owns Sauber Motorsport AG. Peter Sauber withdrew from all functions. At Longbow, they acted on behalf of the wealthy Rausing family in Sweden. The heirs of Ruben Rausing, the founder of the Tetra Pak company, supported the career of their compatriot Marcus Ericsson, who was one of the Sauber team drivers at the time, for many years.
The end of financial worries
The takeover marked the successful conclusion of a long phase in which Team Sauber had made headlines outside of its core business. The team was primarily in the spotlight because of its financial difficulties. Signs of serious financial difficulties had first become public three years earlier. The problems began with the withdrawal of long-time partner Petronas. Malaysia's state-owned oil company announced its withdrawal for the 2010 season, one year after the departure of BMW. After 15 years of cooperation, Petronas and with it a financial dowry of around 50 million francs a year moved on to Mercedes within Formula 1.
The economic situation came to a head after a liaison with Russian investors failed to bring the hoped-for financial relief. In the summer of 2013, they had announced three potent partners from the giant empire in Hinwil, who should have provided the urgently needed funds. However, the partnership did not develop according to the wishes of the parties involved. The team boss at the time, Monisha Kaltenborn, attributed the failure to the volatile political situation in Russia following its annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in violation of international law and the sanctions imposed as a result.
Giedo van der Garde also brought exciting times to the Sauber team. The Dutchman had insisted on a contractual agreement in the run-up to the 2015 season and demanded a place as a regular driver accordingly. In the days leading up to the season opener in Melbourne, Van der Garde took legal action to gain the right to start, but then withdrew his demand. A few days later, Peter Sauber was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and draw a line under the tiresome affair. Van der Garde had agreed to cancel the contract.
The complete takeover by Audi
One year after the Rausing family acquired the factory, the collaboration with Alfa Romeo began. From then on, the Italian car brand was title sponsor of the Sauber team for six seasons. Alfa Romeo's withdrawal was followed by a partnership with the company Stake, an operator of online casinos based on the Caribbean island of Curaçao. The partnership led over to the coming season and to the German Audi Group, which will officially take over in Hinwil from next year. The company from Ingolstadt in Bavaria has been the sole owner of Sauber Holding AG since March last year following the gradual takeover of the shares from the Rausings.
From the start of the coming season, the Sauber name will no longer exist in Formula 1. After 617 race weekends and 614 Grands Prix contested, it's over. The departure is linked to the hope of continuity. Those responsible at Audi are to turn the team from the Zurich Oberland back into what it was when it first entered Formula 1. The bon mot should apply again.
