BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in 1950. The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s, before building the BMW M12/13 inline-four turbocharged engine in the 1980s. This engine was the result of a deal between BMW and Brabham, which resulted in the team's chassis being powered by BMW engines from 1982 until 1987, a period in which Nelson Piquet won the 1983 championship driving a Brabham BT52-BMW. BMW also supplied the M12/13 on a customer basis to the ATS, Arrows, Benetton and Ligier teams during this period, with various degrees of success. In 1988, Brabham temporarily withdrew from the sport and BMW withdrew its official backing from the engines, which were still used by the Arrows team under the Megatron badge. Turbocharged engines were banned by the revised Formula One Technical Regulations for 1989, rendering the M12/13 obsolete.
Jörg Zander is a German Formula One car designer.
Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993. Sauber operated under their own name from 1993 until 2005 and from 2011 until 2018. They were known as BMW Sauber from 2006 to 2010 and as Alfa Romeo from 2019 to 2023 in partnership deals with BMW and Alfa Romeo respectively. Sauber returned in 2024 as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and is set to be the Audi works team from 2026 onwards, with the German outfit planning to acquire the Swiss team.
The Sauber C12 was the car with which the Sauber Formula One team made its FIA Formula One World Championship debut in 1993. Its design was led by Leo Ress.
The BMW Sauber F1.06, also simply known as the BMW F1.06, was the car with which the BMW Sauber team competed in the 2006 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by German Nick Heidfeld, who joined from Williams, and Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, who had spent one season with Sauber before it was bought by BMW. However, Villeneuve was replaced by third driver, Pole Robert Kubica, before the season finished. The year marked the first time that BMW had competed as a full team; previously it had only supplied engines. The chassis was designed by Willy Rampf, Jacky Eeckelaert and Seamus Mullarkey with the powertrain being designed by Heinz Paschen.
The BMW Sauber F1.07 is a Formula One single-seater racing car built by BMW Sauber for the 2007 Formula One World Championship. The chassis was designed by Willy Rampf, Walter Reidl, Jörg Zander and Willem Toet with the powertrain being designed by Heinz Paschen. The car was the first to have been designed fully by BMW, following their purchase of the former Sauber team. Initial pre-season testing was very positive, with many speculating that BMW could surprise some of the top teams with their performances when the season got underway.
James Key is a British engineer who has worked in Formula One. He is currently the technical director of Stake F1 Team.
Italian motor manufacturer Alfa Romeo has participated multiple times in Formula One. The brand has competed in motor racing as both a constructor and engine supplier sporadically between 1950 and 1987, and later as a commercial partner between 2015 and 2023. The company's works drivers won the first two World Drivers' Championships in the pre-war Alfetta: Nino Farina in 1950 and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1951. Following these successes, Alfa Romeo withdrew from Formula One.
Willy Rampf is a German car engineer who is currently a technical consultant for Williams Racing and was the former technical director of the Sauber Formula One team.
The Sauber C23 was a Formula One racing car designed by Sauber for the 2004 Formula One season.
The Sauber C22 was the car with which the Sauber Petronas team competed in the 2003 Formula One World Championship.
The Sauber C29 was a Formula One racing car which was used by the BMW Sauber F1 Team in the 2010 Formula One season. It was unveiled on January 31, at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.
The Force India VJM03 was a Formula One motor racing car designed and built by the Force India team for the 2010 season. It was driven by Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi and was unveiled online, on 9 February 2010. The car made its track début the following day at the second group test at Circuito de Jerez. In Bahrain, Sutil finished first in FP1. Sutil and Liuzzi then qualified 10th and 12th respectively. Liuzzi finished ninth, scoring two points, while Sutil spun in an oil leak caused by Mark Webber in the Red Bull before finishing outside the points, in twelfth position.
The Sauber C31 was a Formula One racing car designed by Sauber for use in the 2012 Formula One season. The car was driven by Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez. Technical director James Key announced that he was leaving the team just four days before the C31 was due to be launched at Jerez de la Frontera.
Mark Smith is a British former technical director of the Sauber Formula One team.
The Sauber C34 is a Formula One racing car which Sauber used to compete in the 2015 Formula One season. The C34 was driven by Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.
The Sauber C35 is a Formula One racing car designed by Sauber to compete in the 2016 Formula One season. The car was driven by Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr, and used the Ferrari 061 power unit.
The Sauber C36 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by Sauber to compete during the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein, who joined the team after Felipe Nasr left the team at the end of the 2016 season. Antonio Giovinazzi drove the car in Wehrlein's place after a pre-season injury saw Wehrlein withdraw from the opening two rounds of the season as a precaution. The C36 made its competitive début at the 2017 Australian Grand Prix, and uses a 2016-specification Ferrari engine.
The Sauber C37 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by Sauber to compete during the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by Marcus Ericsson and reigning Formula 2 champion Charles Leclerc, who replaced Pascal Wehrlein. The C37 made its competitive début at the 2018 Australian Grand Prix and uses a 2018-specification Ferrari engine. This was the last car to be raced under the Sauber name as they were renamed as Alfa Romeo for the 2019 season, although the team's structure has remained unchanged.
Pierre Waché is a French Formula One engineer. He is the technical director at the Red Bull Racing Formula One team.
