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BMW Sauber
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Full name | BMW Sauber F1 Team |
|---|---|
| Base | Hinwil, Switzerland and Munich, Germany |
| Team principal/s |  Mario Theissen |
| Technical director | Willy Rampf |
| Race drivers | 9. Nick Heidfeld 10.  Robert Kubica |
| Test drivers | Sebastian Vettel Timo Glock |
| Chassis | F1.07 |
| Engine | BMW P86/7 |
| Tyres | Bridgestone |
| World Championship Career | |
| Debut | 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix |
| Latest race | 2007 Australian Grand Prix |
| Races competed | 19 |
| 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 formed at the end of 2005 by the takeover of the existing Sauber Formula One team by German car manufacturer BMW. The team scored two podium finishes and came fifth in 2006, its first season in Formula One.
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- Main article: Sauber
Peter Sauber built his first car in 1970. Sauber competed in sports car racing during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1989 it became the Mercedes-Benz works team, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989 and the World Sportscar Championship in 1989 and 1990.[1]
The Swiss team entered Formula One in the 1993 season, with support from Mercedes. The partnership with Mercedes lasted until 1994. Sauber used Ferrari engines, badged as Petronas, from 1997 to 2005. Sauber never scored a race win, pole position, or fastest lap. The team's most successful season was 2001, when it finished fourth in the constructors' championship.[1]
German car manufacturer BMW competed in Formula One as an engine supplier from 1982 - 1987 and from 2000 - 2005. Nelson Piquet won the 1983 drivers' world championship in a Brabham-BMW. During 2005 BMW ended its engine supply agreement with the Williams team and bought Sauber.[2] Peter Sauber remained with the team as a consultant.
For the 2006 season BMW Sauber signed Nick Heidfeld from Williams to be their lead driver, while 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve had his existing Sauber contract confirmed. Pole Robert Kubica was signed as the team's third driver. The team continued to use Sauber's facilities, mostly for chassis construction and wind tunnel testing, while BMW's headquarters in Munich were responsible for building the new P86 V8 engine.
Former Sauber title sponsor Petronas renewed their contract with the new team, as a simple team sponsor, as did Credit Suisse. For the new season BMW Sauber announced a technical partnership with Intel, claiming that it will eventually lead to technological improvements available on BMW road cars.[3]
The new livery, unveiled in Valencia on 17 January 2006, was 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. Over the first two thirds of the season the drivers picked up points with a succession of seventh and eighth place finishes.
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.[4] This unconventional add-on was promptly banned by the FIA as it was adjudged to impede the drivers' vision and thus compromise safety.[5]
Heidfeld scored the team's first podium at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix from 10th on the grid. Kubica stood in for Villeneuve, BMW stating that Villenueve couldn't drive due to medical complications following his accident at the German Grand Prix. Kubica finished seventh, although he was later disqualified for an underweight car.[6] After the Hungarian Grand Prix, BMW announced that Kubica would complete the season for the Swiss team, spelling the end of former world champion Villeneuve's F1 career.[7]
Kubica scored BMW Sauber's second podium of the season at the Italian Grand Prix, after running in third place for most of the race and leading briefly 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 fifth place in the constructor's championship was cemented by Heidfeld's two further points at the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix, and Toyota's early double retirement from the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix.
On 19 October 2006, it was announced that Robert Kubica would partner Nick Heidfeld for the 2007 with Sebastian Vettel taking the test and reserve driver role. On 21 December, it was announced that Timo Glock had been signed as the team's second test driver. [8] The team launched their 2007 car, the F1.07, on January 16, 2007.[9]
The new car showed promising form in winter testing, topping the times sheets on occasions. However, team principal Mario Theissen declared some reliability concerns before the season's opening race in Melbourne. Robert Kubica duly retired from 5th place mid-race with gearbox trouble, but Nick Heidfeld proved their pace in winter testing was no fluke as he raced to 4th place.
(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 | TD | TD | TD | TD | TD | TD | TD | TD | TD | TD | TD | TD | DSQ | 12 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 9 | ||||||
| 2007 | BMW Sauber F1.07 | BMW V8 | B | AUS | MAL | BAH | ESP | MON | CAN | USA | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | TUR | ITA | BEL | JPN | CHN | BRA | ||||
| Nick Heidfeld | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Robert Kubica | Ret |
- ^ a b Sauber www.grandprix.com Retrieved 2 February 2007
- ^ BMW www.grandprix.comRetrieved 2 February 2007.
- ^ BMW nets Intel sponsorship news.bbc.co.uk Retrieved 2 February 2007
- ^ Villeneuve sets Magny Cours pace news.bbc.co.uk Retrieved 2 February 2007
- ^ BMW ordered to remove nose fins news.bbc.co.uk Retrieved 2 February 2007
- ^ 2006 Hungarian Grand Prixf1.warnerleach.co.uk Retrieved 2 February 2007.
- ^ It's the end of the road for Villeneuve www.timesonline.co.uk Retrieved 2 February 2007
- ^ "Glock signed as BMW second driver", Grandprix.com, 2006-12-21. Retrieved on December 21, 2006.
- ^ "The new BMW F1.07", Grandprix.com, 2007-01-16. Retrieved on January 16, 2007.
- BMW Sauber F1 - Official site
- Driven to Perform - Intel's F1 Portal
- BMWF1Talk :: Unofficial BMW Sauber Fansite - bmwf1talk.com
- Nick Heidfeld Official Website (In German)
- Nick Heidfeld Fansite
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| McLaren | Renault | Ferrari | Honda | BMW | Toyota | Red Bull | Williams | Toro Rosso | Spyker | Super Aguri |
| 1 Alonso 2 Hamilton |
3 Fisichella 4 Kovalainen |
5 Massa 6 Räikkönen |
7 Button 8 Barrichello |
9 Heidfeld 10 Kubica |
11 Schumacher 12 Trulli |
14 Coulthard 15 Webber |
16 Rosberg 17 Wurz |
18 Liuzzi 19 Speed |
20 Sutil 21 Albers |
22 Sato 23 Davidson |
/  BMW Sauber |
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Personnel: |
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Current drivers: |
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Formula One cars: F1.06 | F1.07 |