The name Sauber has become very familiar within the world of motorsports, specifically Formula One and the World Endurance Championship, but what is behind the team of many name changes?

The team Sauber had originally got its start in the World Endurance Championship in 1977, competing in Le Mans that year as well as other races in the series.

It saw success in WEC as the team had won two championships in the series with their Mercedes combination car, the Sauber C9.

Sauber entered Formula One in 1993 as a private constructor until 2005. Within that time drivers such as Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Johnny Herbert as well as signing Jacques Villeneuve before being bought out the next year.

During the time the constructor was simply under Sauber a new rookie talent was introduced and signed with the team in 2001. This rookie’s best finish was P4 in his 16 race starts and finished out the season with 9 points.

This rookie would later go on and win a world championship under Ferrari in 2007. This rookie is of course none other than the iconic Fin, Kimi Raikkonen.

In 2005 BMW officially purchased the team and raced under the name BMW Sauber F1 Team from 2006-2009. During this time period the team saw great success with multiple and somewhat consistent podiums and a win in 2008. 

Just the year prior to their first and only grand prix win the team earned their way to second place in the 2007 World Constructors Championship, just behind Ferrari with their past driver Raikkonen. 

After economic issues worldwide, BMW was forced to sell the team back to Peter Sauber for an astonishing one euro. Sauber was established once again as an independent constructor from 2010-2025.

From 2019-2023 the team signed a title sponsor agreement with Alfa Romeo which saw four different team names in the short span of time. Starting with Alfa Romeo Racing then progressing through Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen and Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen before eventually ending on Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake.

During the Alfa Romeo era the team signed an old driver who got his beginnings in Formula One with the team to close out his F1 chapter. Kimi Raikkonen returned to the Sauber franchise from 2019 until his retirement in 2021. 

The team brought on a new set of drivers after Raikkonen’s retirement, a rookie and a very experienced veteran of Formula One. The pair, Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, brought in a total of 71 points, mostly from Valtteri’s 59, in their two seasons with Alfa Romeo. 

In 2024 Audi purchased the team causing it to lose its Alfa Romeo sponsorship. With the Alfa Romeo sponsorship the ties with Ferrari as a satellite team left as well in the transition.

The team raced with a Stake sponsorship in 2024 and 2025 with drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Borteleto, a Sauber veteran and rookie.

In this time Nico Hulkenberg achieved a historic feat by getting his first Formula One podium at the chaotic 2025 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The day had unpredictable weather which affected many drivers' races and helped pave the way to Hulkenberg’s first podium. 

Going into the 2026 season the team will race under the Audi name with both Hulkenberg and Bortoleto staying with the team in the transition. Audi is taking over just in time for the new regulations to come into effect.