BMW Sauber F1

This article describes the former BMW Formula 1 works team, for the 2010 team of the same name, see Sauber Motorsport

BMW Sauber F1

Surname	BMW Sauber F1 Team
Companies	BMW Sauber AG
Company headquarters	Hinwil ( CH ) / Munich ( D )
Team boss	Mario Theissen ( df )
statistics
First Grand Prix	Bahrain 2006
Last Grand Prix	Abu Dhabi 2009
Race driven	70
Constructors' championship	0 - best result: 2nd ( 2007 )
Drivers World Championship	0 - best result: 4th ( 2008 )
Race wins	1
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	2
Points	308

The BMW Sauber F1 Team was a German Formula 1 - racing team and the works team of the automobile manufacturer BMW . It was represented in the top motorsport class from 2006 to 2009 and emerged from the previous Swiss team, the Sauber . The head office and production site was Hinwil in Switzerland , the engines were manufactured in Munich . After the 2009 season, BMW withdrew from Formula 1 and sold its 80 percent stake in the team to the original owner, Peter Sauber .

BMW had already appeared as an engine supplier in Formula 1 in the 1980s. With Nelson Piquet and the Brabham team, BMW became world champion in 1983 - the first in the turbo era. This commitment was resumed about 15 years later, when BMW supplied Williams with engines from 2000 to 2005 . See also BMW Motorsport .

history

Nelson Piquet in a Brabham -BMW 1985

BMW Sauber F1, 2006

On January 1, 2006, BMW took over the majority of the former racing team from Peter Sauber and thus founded its own works team. The name "Sauber" was left in the team name. The Hinwil location of the former Sauber team was also retained and most of the Sauber team was taken over. Peter Sauber remained with the BMW Sauber F1 Team as a consultant.

BMW separated from its previous partner Williams after the 2005 season and is now continuing its Formula 1 involvement with its own team.

Nick Heidfeld was signed as the first driver from the previous partnership with Williams . The team confirmed the former Sauber driver and 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve as the second driver on December 1, 2005. The team's test driver was Robert Kubica . The Pole took the wheel from Villeneuve at the Hungarian Grand Prix and contested all the other races of the 2006 season. On his debut, Kubica was disqualified because his car was two kilograms too light. The team lost seventh place and two championship points. Nick Heidfeld finished third and celebrated the young team's first podium. After this race, the current contract with Villeneuve was terminated with immediate effect by mutual agreement and Kubica was used as the second driver for the other races.

First pole in Formula 1: Robert Kubica

The 2006 P86 V8 engine

On September 10, 2006, the BMW Sauber F1 Team and Robert Kubica finished on the podium again at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Team mate Nick Heidfeld landed in eighth place and scored another World Championship point for the team. With a good performance in qualifying, the drivers of the BMW-Sauber-F1-Team laid the foundation for the good race result. Heidfeld placed third on the second row, Kubica started the race in sixth. In the course of its first season in 2006, the BMW Sauber F1 Team finished a total of 15 points. With 36 world championship points, the team finished fifth in the constructors' championship.

In 2007 the BMW Sauber F1 Team drove again with Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica and was able to establish itself as the third top team in the first races.

During the season, test and reserve driver Sebastian Vettel left the team to replace regular driver Scott Speed at Toro Rosso from the Hungarian Grand Prix .

The F1.08 chassis used for the 2008 season was an evolution of the previous year's F1.07 model.

Nick Heidfeld finished the first race of the 2008 season in second place. Robert Kubica, who had achieved a sensational second place in qualifying, had to end the race prematurely after a collision with Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima . In the second race of the 2008 season, the BMW Sauber F1 Team confirmed this result and finished second with Robert Kubica. In qualifying for the third race of the season in Bahrain, the BMW Sauber F1 Team with Robert Kubica achieved their first pole position in Formula 1. The BMW Sauber F1 Team finished the race with Robert Kubica in 3rd place and Nick Heidfeld in 4th place Thanks to its consistency, the team temporarily moved up to 1st place for the first time in the constructors' championship.

The future race winner Robert Kubica at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix

On June 8, 2008 at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Robert Kubica achieved the first Formula 1 victory for the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Nick Heidfeld came in second. The team finished the season 3rd in the constructors' championship with 135 points.

In the 2009 season , the team was unable to match the strong performance of the previous year and only scored twelve points in the first ten races (up to the Hungarian Grand Prix). On July 29, 2009, BMW then announced that it would withdraw from Formula 1 at the end of the 2009 racing season.

On September 15, 2009, BMW announced that it had reached an agreement with Qadbak Investments Ltd, initially touted as “a foundation based in Switzerland”, on the sale of the BMW Sauber F1 Team. A few days later, Qadbak Investments Ltd, which is actually a company registered in the Virgin Islands and which had already caused a stir with the purchase of the English football club Notts County , came across the lack of clarity about the origin of the money and one of the agents of the Qadbak Investments Ltd made jail sentences for insurance fraud in the negative headlines. According to media reports, it was unclear whether the sale of the BMW Sauber F1 Team to Qadbak Investments Ltd had actually come about. There were also doubts about the authenticity of the names of investors named by Qadbak Investments Ltd. Peter Trembling and Russell King, directors or authorized representatives of Qadbak Investments Ltd, tried in a similar way around four years earlier to take over the then Jordan racing team and the English football club Newcastle United by means of the "Belgravia Group", which was registered in Jersey and is now in liquidation .

Nick Heidfeld at the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix

On November 27, 2009, BMW announced that Peter Sauber would buy back the team - on the condition that the team receives a starting place for the 2010 Formula 1 season. The sale to Qadbak announced in September 2009 was therefore not completed. The agreement with Peter Sauber provided for, among other things, job cuts from 388 to around 250 jobs.

On December 3, 2009, the previous BMW Sauber F1 Team was confirmed by the FIA ​​as a participant for the 2010 season. With the withdrawal of Toyota Racing one place had become vacant. Peter Sauber's team was represented in the starting field in the 2010 season and initially entered under the previous name BMW Sauber F1 Team . The name change took place during the season .

Numbers and dates

Statistics in Formula 1

season	Team name	chassis	engine	tires	Grand Prix	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	nice Round	Points	World Cup rank
2006	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.06	BMW P86 / 6 2.4 V8	M.	18th	-	-	2	-	-	36	5.
2007	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.07	BMW P86 / 7 2.4 V8	B.	17th	-	1	1	-	-	101	2.
2008	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.08	BMW P86 / 8 2.4 V8	B.	18th	1	7th	3	1	2	135	3.
2009	BMW Sauber F1 Team	BMW Sauber F1.09	BMW P86 / 9 2.4 V8	B.	17th	-	2	-	-	-	36	6th
total					70	1	10	6th	1	2	308

All drivers of the BMW Sauber F1 Team

Surname	Years	Grand Prix	Points	Victories	Second	Third	Poles	SR	best WM-Pos.
Nick Heidfeld	2006-2009	70	163	-	6th	2	-	2	5th ( 2007 )
Robert Kubica	2006-2009	57	137	1	4th	4th	1	-	4th ( 2008 )
Jacques Villeneuve	2006	12	7th	-	-	-	-	-	15th ( 2006 )
Sebastian Vettel	2007	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	14th ( 2007 )

Results in Formula 1

season	chassis	driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	Points	rank
2006	BMW Sauber F1.06																					36	5.
		N. Heidfeld	16	12	DNF	4th	13	10	8th	7th	7th	7th	DNF	8th	DNF	3	14th	8th	7th	8th	17 *
		J. Villeneuve	17th	DNF	7th	6th	12	8th	12	14th	8th	DNF	DNF	11	DNF
		R. Kubica														DSQ	12	3	13	9	9
2007	BMW Sauber F1.07																					101	2.
		N. Heidfeld	09	4th	4th	4th	DNF	6th	2	DNF	5	6th	6th	3	4th	4th	5	14 *	7th	6th
		R. Kubica	10	DNF	18th	6th	4th	5	DNF	INJ	4th	4th	7th	5	8th	5	9	7th	DNF	5
		S. Vettel								8th
2008	BMW Sauber F1.08																					135	3.
		N. Heidfeld	03	2	6th	4th	9	5	14th	2	13	2	4th	10	9	2	5	6th	9	5	10
		R. Kubica	04th	DNF	2	3	4th	4th	2	1	5	DNF	7th	8th	3	6th	3	11	2	6th	11
2009	BMW Sauber F1.09																					36	6th
		N. Heidfeld	05	10	2	12	19th	7th	11	11	15th	10	11	11	5	7th	DNF	6th	DNF	5
		R. Kubica	06th	14 *	DNF	13	18th	11	DNF	7th	13	14th	13	8th	4th	DNF	8th	9	2	10

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Overview of the last staff

Area of ​​responsibility	Surname
Regular driver	Nick Heidfeld
	Robert Kubica
Test driver	Christian Klien
BMW Motorsport Director	Mario Theissen
Managing director	Walter Riedl
Chief engineer	Willy Rampf
Chief designer	Christoph Zimmermann
Chief aerodynamicist	Willem Toet
Head of Drive	Markus Duesmann
Head of Fluid Dynamics ( CFD )	Torbjoern Larsson
Race engineer Heidfeld	Paul Russell
Race engineer Kubica	Antonio Cuquerella
Head of Track Engineering	Giampaolo Dall'Ara
Chief mechanic racing team	Amiel Lindesay
Chief test engineer	Ossi Oikarinen

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://zh.powernet.ch/webservices/inet/HRG/HRG.asmx/getHRGHTML?chnr=0203922569&amt=020&toBeModified=0&validOnly=0&lang=1&sort=0 (link not available)
2. ↑ ^{a b} http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news/2006/01/BMW_Sauber_F1_Team_haben_die_Formel-1-Buehne_06011703.html
3. ^ "The new BMW Sauber: Evolution instead of revolution" ( Memento from December 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (Formel1.net on October 15, 2007)
4. ↑ BMW confirms exit from Formula 1
5. ↑ http://www.bmw-sauber-f1.com/de/index.html (link not available)
6. ↑ “Saubers spin course - the buyers of BMW Sauber create confusion” , SonntagsZeitung , September 20, 2009
7. ↑ "Racing team buyers not clean" , SonntagsZeitung , September 27, 2009 (link to the online article)
8. ↑ ^{a b} The Sun, September 24, 2009
9. ↑ "Middle man of Sauber investor criminal record" , Tages-Anzeiger , 25 September 2009
10. ↑ "Doubts about the investor: BMW-Sauber successor continues to tremble" , 20 Minuten online, October 4th, 2009
11. ↑ "Confusion remains over backers of Notts County" , The Times , 24 September 2009
12. ↑ http://www.bmw-sauber-f1.com/de/index.html (link not available)
13. ^ "FIA - Sauber's 2010 championship entry secured" (Formula1.com on December 4, 2009)
14. ↑ “BMW Sauber appoint new chief designer” (Formula1.com on October 29, 2007)

Web links

Commons : BMW Sauber  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Official site of the team