BMW Sauber
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| Full name | BMW Sauber F1 Team |
|---|---|
| Base | Hinwil, Switzerland and Munich, Germany |
| Team principal |  Mario Theissen |
| Technical director | Willy Rampf |
| Race drivers | 9. Nick Heidfeld 10.  Robert Kubica |
| Test drivers | Sebastian Vettel |
| Chassis | F1.06 |
| Engine | BMW P86 |
| Tyres | Bridgestone |
| Debut | 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| Final race | {{{Final}}} |
| Races competed | 18 |
| Constructors' Championships | none |
| Drivers' Championships | none |
| Race victories | none |
| Pole positions | none |
| Fastest laps | none |
| 2006 position | 5th (36 points) |
BMW-Sauber F1, is a Formula One team with bases in Hinwil, Switzerland and Munich, Germany. The team was founded as Sauber F1 by Peter Sauber in 1993. In 2005 BMW split away from Williams F1 and bought Sauber, although the entire team is wholly owned by BMW they left the Sauber name in it as a kind gesture. Peter Sauber remains on the team as a consultant, although indications remain that the Sauber name will be dropped after the 2006 F1 season, after which point it will be known solely as BMW F1.
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[edit] BMW Formula History
[edit] 1940s and 1950s
In the early days of BMW's existence, the company used its sporty 328 model as the basis for their efforts into the Formula 2 series, a stepping stone to Formula 1 which did sometimes participate in F1 races. BMW themselves ran their own team, but other smaller teams like Veritas, AFM, and Jicey also used the 328's powerplant. However upon the death of the initial F2 series in 1955, and its resurrection in 1956, BMW's management decided not to involve itself in open wheel racing.
[edit] 1960s
In 1967 the Formula 2 regulations were changed to allow 1600cc motors, and BMW's new management was more open to the idea of open wheel racing than before. In the 1968 season, BMW joined with Lola, using their 100 chassis with drivers Jo Siffert and Hubert Hahne.
For 1969, the team switched to Lola 102s, and used a new development of their 1600cc engine dubbed the M12. Siffert and Hahne remained, with Gerhard Mitter and Dieter Quester sharing a third car. Halfway through the season BMW debuted their own chassis, the 269, at the Hockenheimring. Unfortunately, Mitter was killed during development of the 269.
[edit] 1970s
For the 1970 F2 season, BMW debuted the 270 chassis, and campaigned with Jo Siffert, Hubert Hahne, Dieter Quester, and Jacky Ickx. The team was successful in winning every race of the season. However in 1971, BMW's involvement was pulled back, with the team only supplying engines for Dieter Quester's Eifelland. With a change in the F2 engine regulations to 2000ccs, BMW went on hiatus for the 1972 season.
Upon BMW's return to F2 again in 1973, the company was again only supplying engines. Although officially backing the March team's effort for drivers Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Jean-Pierre Jarier, they also supplied engines for teams like Beta Racing and Brian Lewis Racing. From 1973 to the end of Formula 2 in 1984, BMW supplied engines to the championship winning drivers in 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, and 1982.
[edit] 1980s
In 1980, BMW announced their development of a turbocharged motor for the Brabham F1 team. The engine first raced in the 1982 season. The M12/13 engine was a success, taking its first win at the Canadian Grand Prix in its first season at the hands of Nelson Piquet, with Riccardo Patrese being the team's other driver. The following season, BMW supplied engines to the ATS team, but the factory-backed Brabham took 4 victories on its way to Nelson Piquet winning the driver's championship. 2 more victories came in 1984, and BMW also added Arrows to their list of teams who received their engines. 1985 saw a single win for Piquet's Brabham, who was now teamed with Marc Surer.
1986 saw BMW start to supply engines for the new Benetton team, who earned the only win for a BMW engine at the hands of Gerhard Berger. However the factory backed effort at Brabham met with little success from the returning Riccardo Patrese and David Warwick. At the end of the 1986 season, BMW announced it would drop out of Formula 1 at the end of the 1987 season.
BMW's M12/13 engine however did not end there, as Megatron bought the rights to the engines for the Arrows team to continue using. The Ligier team was also supplied with the engine for the 1987 season. Following the 1988 season, turbocharged motors were banned and Arrows ended its use of the former BMW engine.
The BMW M12/13 Turbocharged I4 engine was famous during its life for being the first Formula 1 engine capable of 1000hp in racing trim, although it was capable of nearly 1400hp for qualifying with modification of its boost.
[edit] 2000s
BMW had various touring and sportscar successes throughout the rest of the 1980s and 1990s following its exit from Formula 1. However in 1997 BMW announced they had developed a partnership with the Williams Grand Prix Engineering. The initial development of this partnership was BMW's sportscar effort, using chassis built by Williams and using BMW V12 motors. This culminated in BMW's successful victory at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans with the BMW V12 LMR.
Following this triumph, the second stage of BMW's partnership with Williams began, with BMW developing the powerful E41 V10 for Formula 1. The new Williams-BMW debuted in the 2000 season, driven by Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button. 2001 saw great success for the team, with Schumacher taking 3 wins and newcomer Juan Pablo Montoya taking his first win as well. A lone win for Schumacher followed in 2002, but Williams-BMW returned to success in 2003 with 2 wins a piece for Schumacher and Montoya, while 2004 was again a lone win, this time for Montoya.
2005 saw a rapid decline in the partnership between BMW and Williams. Constant disagreements over the cause of technical failures in the car led BMW to end evolution of the P84/5 V10 as the season went on, leading to no victories for the teams new driver line-up of Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld and the car falling behind the rest of the field, finishing a distant 5th in the constructor's championship.
Wanting a complete split from their failing relationship with Williams, BMW's executives decided that adding an F1 team to the company's motorsport division, thus removing the necessity for a partner, was the only viable solution. Enticed by Sauber's new multi-million dollar research and development facility, which included an advanced windtunnel setup, BMW choose to offer a buyout to Peter Sauber rather than scramble to build the facilities themselves. Sauber bit on the offer, and the buyout went through; the team began racing under the BMW-Sauber F1 flag in 2006.
As BMW's intention was to create a factory effort devoid of any potentially troublesome partnerships, Peter Sauber exercises no real control on the team, although he is on as an active consultant. As of 2007, it is rumored that the team will go as BMW F1, dropping the Sauber moniker.
[edit] Sauber Formula 1 History
- Main article: Sauber
Sauber was well known for their efforts in sportscar racing during the 1970s and 1980s, especially in winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989 and the season championship in 1989 and 1990 for Mercedes-Benz. The World Sportscar Championship switched to expensive F1-like engines and was discontinued in 1992, leaving Sauber with no series to race in.
Sauber then entered Formula 1 in 1993 with Ilmor V10s engines that carried Mercedes badges. The C12 chassis was built by Sauber with help from Mercedes. Driver were by JJ Lehto and Karl Wendlinger. This project continued into 1994 until Mercedes announced their intentions to pair with the McLaren team at the end of the season.
For 1995 Sauber was forced to switch to Ford Motor Company Zetec-R V8s, but also received a major boost in funding from new primary sponsor Red Bull, later joined by Petronas in 1996. For 1997 Sauber signed a deal to race customer Ferrari V10s, although the engines would be badged as Petronas through an agreement with their sponsor. This made Sauber into a quasi-junior team for Ferrari, with Sauber gaining trusted technological advancements from Ferrari, as well at the same time testing new advancements for the Scuderia.
In 2001, Sauber had their most successful season ever, finishing 4th in the constructor's championship, however for most of its time as Sauber-Petronas, the team was a consistent mid-pack effort.
For the 2005 season, Sauber's ties with Ferrari began to be broken, with Sauber announcing their switch from Bridgestone tires, which it shared with Ferrari, to the opposing Michelin tires. Peter Sauber also made his intentions clear that he sided with the GPWC, a possible future break-off series that Ferrari was opposed to. However Sauber's separation from Ferrari became complete with BMW's buying of the outfit for 2006.
Sauber were never able to score a race win, pole position, or fast lap throughout their 13 seasons in Formula 1, even though they were common point scorers and occasionally earned podium finishes.
[edit] BMW Sauber F1 in 2006
For the 2006 season the new BMW Sauber F1 Team has signed Nick Heidfeld from Williams to be their lead driver, while 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve has had his contract with Sauber retained for the final year. The test third driver for the team will be Robert Kubica of Poland. Jacques Villeneuve would subsequently be replaced by Robert Kubica after the German Grand Prix, BMW stating that Villenueve couldn't drive due to medical complications following his accident in Hockenhiem. After the Hungarian Grand Prix, it was announced that Kubica would complete the season withe the Swiss team. The team will continue to use Sauber's facilities, mostly for chassis construction and wind tunnel testing, while BMW's headquarters in Munich will be responsible for building the new P86 V8.
BMW Sauber F1 Team announced a technical partnership with Intel, which will eventually lead to technological improvements available on BMW road cars. Former Sauber title sponsor Petronas renewed their contract with the new team, although merely as a simple team sponsor. Credit Suisse will also remain, completing the trifecta of primary sponsors for the team.
The team used a plain white livery in testing with the BMW symbol on the nosecone and the motto "BMW Power" on the reverse of the rear wing.
The new livery, unveiled in Valencia on 17 January 2006, is the traditional BMW blue and white with a hint of red.
Jacques Villeneuve scored the team's first points with a seventh place finish at the 2006 Malaysian Grand Prix, after Heidfeld retired from fifth with an engine failure late in the race.
Both Heidfeld and Villeneuve picked up points in 4th and 6th places in the 2006 Australian Grand Prix, giving BMW Sauber 8 points towards their total. After a run of points finishes, Heidfeld scored the team's first podium in the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix. Kubica stood in for Villeneuve, who crashed heavily the weekend prior in the 2006 German Grand Prix. Kubica finished seventh in his debut race and thus scored two provisional points for the team. This result was however disqualified when stewards later discovered his car to be (unintentionally) two kilograms too light due to excessive tyre wear. A day later, BMW announced that Villeneuve was no longer to be retained by the team, which spelt the end of the Canadian's illustrous F1 career.
The team ran a radical "twin towers" aero enhancement on the front of the car for the race in Magny-Cours, France, which was meant to direct airflow to the rear and thus improve performance. This unconventional add-on was promptly banned by the FIA as it was adjudged to impede the drivers' vision and thus compromise safety.
After a mistake in tyre choice and a first-corner accident prevented the team from scoring points in the 2006 Turkish Grand Prix, the Italian round of the championship saw a return to form. The team scored their second podium of this season, thanks to the astonishing driving of Kubica. He had driven most of the race in third place and even led at one point during the first round of pit stops. Heidfeld was classified in 8th position with one point; this poor result due to a poor first lap and drive-through penalty after qualifying third. The team's current fifth place in the WCC was cemented with Heidfeld scoring another two points at the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix, but only after a last lap collision caused by the lapped Takuma Sato dropped him from fourth.
Toyota's early double retirement from the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix ensured that the team finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship, a respectable result in their first season.
On 19 October 2006, it was announced that Robert Kubica would partner Nick Heidfeld for 2007 with Sebastian Vettel taking the test and reserve driver role.
[edit] Complete Formula One Results
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | BMW Sauber F1.06 | BMW V8 | M | BAH | MAL | AUS | SAN | EUR | ESP | MON | GBR | CAN | USA | FRA | GER | HUN | TUR | ITA | CHN | JPN | BRA | 36 | 5th | |
| Nick Heidfeld | 12 | Ret | 4 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 3 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 8 | Ret | ||||||
| Jacques Villeneuve | Ret | 7 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | ||||||||||||
| Robert Kubica | DSQ | 12 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 9 |
[edit] External links
- BMW Sauber F1 - Official site
- Driven to Perform - Intel's F1 Portal
- BMWSauberF1Talk :: Unofficial BMW Sauber Fansite
- Nick Heidfeld Official Website (In German)
- Nick Heidfeld Fansite
| Constructors and drivers competing in the 2007 Formula One championship | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLaren | Renault | Ferrari | Honda | BMW | Toyota |
| 1 Alonso 2 Hamilton |
3 Fisichella 4 Kovalainen |
5 Massa 6 Räikkönen |
7 Button 8 Barrichello |
9 Heidfeld 10 Kubica |
11 Schumacher 12 Trulli |
| Red Bull | Williams | Toro Rosso | Spyker | Super Aguri | |
| 14 Coulthard 15 Webber |
16 Rosberg 17 Wurz |
18 Liuzzi 19 Speed |
20 Albers 21 ? |
22 Sato 23 Davidson |
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