The
History of PETER SAUBER
Peter
Sauber is a Formula One team Principal who doesn't like to race cars.
His passion is building them, and he has been doing that successfully since
1970. "Driving is not very important to me," Sauber says. "What I like is
creating cars, down to the smallest detail. That's what motivates me." After working as an apprentice electrician, Sauber bought a Volkswagen Beetle in 1967 and began to compete in Swiss sports car races "as a hobby." At that time, cars for Sauber were "a means to get from Point A to Point B." What interested him was the application of high technology to motor racing.
The first car that Sauber ever built was the C1, named for his wife Christiane, like every racing car that he has built since. With the C1, Sauber won the 1970 Swiss Sports Car Championship and went into business for himself - building race cars that have become part of motor-racing history for their performances at Le Mans (with the C5 in 1978), Nürburgring (with the Sauber BMW Group 5 in 1981) and the US (Miami, Daytona and Sebring with the C7 in 1984).
Sauber's long and very successful collaboration with Mercedes-Benz began with the C8, which won the 1000 Kilometres on the Nürburgring in 1986, the year that Sauber's young company moved from its workshop to newly built premises in Hinwil, where Sauber has been ever since.
Sauber's C9 propelled Mercedes back into motor racing in 1988 after an absence of 33 years and Sauber was named Mercedes' official works team. The C9's double victory in Le Mans, a total of eight victories in the Sports Car World Championship and first place in both the Constructors' and the Drivers' Sports Car World Championship made 1989 the most successful season in Sauber's history.
The C11 (the C10 never existed) chassis used a compound material made of carbon fibres for the first time and turned 1990 into another highlight for Sauber-Mercedes, with eight race victories and the overall Sports Car World Championship title (Constructors and Drivers).
Back in Hinwil, Sauber conceived plans for his first Formula One car, the C12. After moving into a brand new, purpose-built high-technology factory in Hinwil in 1992, Sauber built the C12 and competed in Formula One for the first time in 1993. Petronas, the Malaysian national oil company, and Red Bull, the energy drink producer, joined forces with Sauber in 1995. Sauber Petronas Engineering AG was founded in 1996 as a joint venture to fulfil the engineering needs of the RED BULL SAUBER PETRONAS Formula One team and to conduct research and development in the field of automotive engineering technology. In 1998, the Sauber Petronas Engineering Powertrain Division built their first high-performance passenger car engine and has expanded into new premises in Hinwil. Crédit Suisse, the international banking group, became a Sauber partner in 2001.
Today, Peter Sauber is in his ninth Formula One season. Known as a reliable spotter of racing talent (both Michael Schumacher and Heinz-Harald Frentzen have driven for him), Sauber has the youngest driver pairing in Formula One and is not backed by a major car manufacturer.
In Switzerland, his top-of-the-line racing operation is the jewel in the crown of Hinwil. Here, more than 250 people from 21 different countries work for the success of the RED BULL SAUBER PETRONAS Formula One team. Ancillary suppliers in the surrounding region manufacture and supply components for RED BULL SAUBER PETRONAS race cars. Equipped to the finest technical detail, Sauber's highly developed F1 center in Hinwil is located only a few steps from where Peter Sauber began, in 1970, to fulfil his passionate desire to build race cars.
Sauber, who was born October 13, 1943 in Zurich, has been married to Christiane since 1965. They have two children, Philipp (1971) and Alex (1973).
Asked if there is a life outside Formula One and building race cars, Sauber likes to answer: "Yes, but not often."
CIRCUIT
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