Wikipedia
Sauber Motorsport AG, competing as Sauber F1 Team, is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sports Prototype Championship to reach Formula One in 1993. Swiss investment firm Longbow Finance S.A. are the current majority owners of Sauber.
Having not won a Grand Prix as an independent, the team was sold to BMW in 2005, and competed as BMW Sauber from 2006 to 2009, scoring one victory. At the end of the 2009 season, however, BMW pulled out of Formula One and the team's future remained uncertain for several months, until it was sold back to Peter Sauber and granted a 2010 entry. However, due to issues with the Concorde Agreement, the team remained as "BMW Sauber" for the 2010 season. In March 2010, Peter Sauber announced plans to change the team name during the season, but the FIA announced that they would have to wait until the end of the season to change their name. At the beginning of the 2011 Formula One season the team dropped BMW from their name.
Peter Sauber sold his controlling 66.6% stake in the team, with the remainder belonging to CEO Monisha Kaltenborn also being sold, she had been a leading figure in the team since BMW's withdrawal.
On 20 July 2016 it was announced that Swiss based investment firm Longbow Finance has bought both Peter Sauber and Monisha Kaltenborn's shares in the company, which made Longbow Finance the sole owner of Sauber. Pascal Picci was announced to take Peter Sauber's role as chairman of the board and president. Monisha Kaltenborn has remained as Team principal and CEO of Sauber. The acquisition by Longbow Finance follows a series of speculation about the future of Sauber. The team had been in financial trouble for years before the change of ownership, often being unable to pay salaries to team members on time.
Sauber may refer to:
- Sauber, Swiss Formula One team
- BMW Sauber, German Formula One team that competed from 2006 to 2009