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The Paddock
2 0 0 0 t e a m s
16 + 17  |
 Red Bull Sauber |
| Formula One record: [1-1-2000] |
| Starts |
113 |
| Poles |
0 |
| Wins |
0 |
| Constructors' titles |
none |
| Drivers' titles |
none |
| 1999 season: |
| Eighth, five points (Jean Alesi/Pedro Diniz). |
sixth x5, seventh x1, eighth x1, ninth x2, 11th x1, 14th x1, 16th x1, retired x20. |
| History: |
| 1977 |
First Sauber car entered into Le Mans 24 Hours race. - |
| 1988 |
Sauber join up with Mercedes to race in sportscars. Drivers include Michael Schumacher, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger. |
| 1989 |
Sauber win Le Mans. |
| 1993 |
Formula One debut with Ilmor engines |
| 1994 |
Mercedes provide engines. |
| 1995 |
Sauber link up with Ford. |
| 1997 |
Technical co-operation agreement with Ferrari |
| Season by season: (year, standing, points, wins, drivers) |
| 1993 |
sixth equal, 12 (Karl Wendlinger/JJ Lehto) |
| 1994 |
eighth, 12 (Wendlinger/Heinz-Harald Frentzen/Andrea de Cesaris/JJ Lehto) |
| 1995 |
seventh, 18 (Wendlinger/Frentzen/Jean-Christophe Bouillion) |
| 1996 |
seventh, 11 (Frentzen/Johnny Herbert) |
| 1997 |
seventh, 16 Herbert/Nicola Larini/Gianni Morbidelli/Norberto Fontana) |
| 1998 |
sixth, 10 (Herbert/Jean Alesi) |
| Prospects for the 2000 season: |
 Sauber C19, powered by Ferrari-based Petronas V10 |
| Last season was a disappointment with Pedro Diniz's dramatic accident, in which he landed upside down at the Nuerburgring, lingering in the memory more than their points finishes. The new car has been extensively tested pre-season and both drivers are experienced and raced together in the past at Arrows. With Ferrari-based engines, the Swiss team should do better than occasional sixth places. |
| Drivers: |
Pedro Diniz  |
| Aged 29, Brazil. |
| Races 82, wins 0, poles 0, points to date: 10 |
| 1999 record |
Sauber, 14th, three points - sixth x3, 11th x1, retired x12.
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Pedro did a brief spell in karts that was followed by a season in Formula Ford and then another in Formula Three in South America.
He then headed for the British Formula Three series, signing to drive with the West Surrey racing team. Unfortunately, he didn't achieve the same results as his fellow countryman, Ayrton Senna, and his teammate, Rubens Barrichello, won the title.
He competed for a second season, this time with Edenbridge racing, and received better results, but still didn't take the title.
In 1993, he moved to the Forti Corse team in formula 3000, where he had the occasional burst of speed, securing him a best finish of fourth place. When the team moved from Formula 3000 to Formula One in 1995, Pedro went with them, his family money helping finance the team.
He made his debut at his home track in Brazil, qualifying in 25th position, and finishing the race in tenth, 7 laps down.
He made his debut at his home track in Brazil, qualifying in 25th position, and finishing the race in tenth, 7 laps down.
The Forti Corse cars were extremely off the pace, marring Pedros capabilities, and when he moved to Ligier in 1996, people began to take notice as he scored two 6th place finishes.
Moving on once again, he joined Damon Hill at Arrows in 1997, but he was still driving a car that was well below the competition. Eleven retirements, and only one point scoring finish, a fifth place in Luxembourg, saw him complete the season in 17th.
The next season wasn't much better, with a sixth place in Monaco, and a fifth in Belgium.
1999 saw him move to Sauber alongside Jean Alesi where he had some strong qualifying sessions, but unfortunately he only scored three points, one more than his more experienced teammate, for the entire season after reliability problems hampered his performance. 2000 will see him partner Mika Salo, his first year as a paid driver.
[More] |
 Mika Salo |
| Aged 33, Finland. |
| Races 77, wins 0, poles 0, points to date: 25 |
| 1999 record |
BAR/Ferrari, 10th. 10 points - second x1, third x1, seventh x2, eighth x1, ninth x1, 12th x1. retired x2. |
Mika went from a successful karting career to become European Formula Ford champion in 1988, before joining up with fellow countryman, Mika Hakkinen in British Formula Three in 1989. Here the two battled for the 1990 crown, with Hakkinen taking the victory.
His career seemed to come to a standstill, when although he had teams wanting to sign him for Formula 3000, he was convicted of drink-driving, and was effectively banished to Japan, where he stayed until 1994.
Mika's Formula one debut came in 1994, when he drove for Lotus in the Japanese Grand Prix. Qualifying 25th, he finished the race in 10th, but retired from the next race, the last for the season, due to electrical problems.
1995 saw him signing with Tyrrell, where he ran in third place in the opening race, but suffered cramps, and ended up back in 7th. He finished 5th in two races that season, and those positions were repeated again in 1996. There was talk of Mika signing with Ferrari in the early part of the 97 season, after a non-stop fifth place at Monaco, but this didn't eventuate, and he signed with the Arrows team for 98, after Damon Hill joined Jordan.
His best finish for the 98 season came in the form of a fourth place in Monaco, earning him three points for the season, finishing 13th overall, equal with Pedro Diniz.
The 1999 season saw him driving for BAR after Ricardo Zonta was injured, scoring the teams first finish for the season, but his biggest challenge followed as he was chosen to stand in for the injured double world champion, Michael Schumacher at Ferrari. He magnificently led in his debut race for the Italian marquee, but allowed Championship contender, Eddie Irvine to pass, effectively handing over his first career win. Unfortunately, this was the only race that provided such great results for him with the team, but many team bosses noted his performance and offers came from everywhere for a drive in the 2000 season.
By the time he handed back the reigns to Schumacher in Malaysia, he had already signed with the Sauber team to partner Pedro Diniz.
[More] |
| Sauber in 2000: |
If the launch party for the new Sauber C19 race car was anything to go by, then the Swiss-based team might see a lift in its fortunes this year.
In a spectacular show at the Hellenstadion in Zurich, Sauber unveiled the vehicle in front of a sellout crowd of 7000 paying fans. If the season goes as well as the party, then they will have cause to be happy enough.
What the partygoers got was an introduction to the new, Red Bull-liveried Sauber Petronas car and a chance to rub shoulders with team members, engineers and the drivers, Pedro Diniz and Mika Salo.
Diniz, a Brazilian who is now in his second season with the Sauber operation, had a lucky escape last year when his car rolled over and crashed spectacularly just after the start of the European Grand Prix.
Salo, a 33-year-old Finn, became the super-sub of Formula One in 1999, sitting in firstly for the injured Ricardo Zonta in the British American Racing team, and then replacing Michael Schumacher at Ferrari when the German broke his leg at Silverstone in July. He looked to have the German Grand Prix won until he obeyed team rules and allowed Eddie Irvine to pass him.
Last year was the season of lowest return for Sauber since its Formula One debut in 1993. It managed only five points, finishing ninth of the 11 teams in the sport. Only perennial back-of-the-grid runners Minardi and the hugely disappointing BAR fared worse.
There were excuses: the car was finished late and it was unreliable, although there were occasions when Jean Alesi (who left at the end of the season to join Prost) was able to qualify well and run more prominently than usual.
The new C19 car comes with a new gearbox and is 10 kilograms lighter - and hopefully more reliable.
Work on this year's car began almost 11 months before the first race of this season - back in April last year - and, despite the fact that it includes more than 5000 new parts, the vehicle was finished early.
"The first tests were performed back in December, which left us enough time to sort out and fix eventual problems. For this reason I am extremely optimistic in respect to the new season," says technical chief Leo Ress.
The team had three main objectives in developing its new car and, Sauber says, it achieved them all.
The aerodynamics have been improved after eight months of wind tunnel testing at Emmen, Switzerland, and many of the components have been made lighter.
Sauber will also continue its three-year relationship with Ferrari, from whom it obtains engines. This year's power plant - at least to start with - will be the version run by Ferrari towards the end of last season. There will be further evolution during the year.
While the Sauber team is relatively new to Formula One, its founder, Peter Sauber, has been involved in motor sport for 30 years.
He came to prominence in the late 1980s when Mercedes-Benz chose to use his team as its vehicle for a return to motor sport in sports car racing.
Sauber won at Le Mans for Mercedes and took out both the constructors' and drivers' sports car world titles in 1989 and 1990.
It was at that time that Mercedes had its junior racing development squad of young drivers, all of whom ran in Sauber cars, and a highly talented line up it was: Michael Schumacher, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger.
Sauber is often asked whether he plans to shift his operation from his native Switzerland to Britain, where the bulk of F1 teams are based, but he is content to remain at Hinwil, near Zurich - despite the fact that Britain is home to far more of the engineers, designers, aerodynamicists and other professionals whose services are essential for Grand Prix success.
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