1
Team founder Peter Sauber has admitted the Swiss outfit is set to bring up the rear of the field in 2017. "There are ten teams," he told the Swiss newspaper Sonntagsblick. "The initial position for Sauber is number ten."
But a worse fate seemed in store for Sauber not too long ago, with the 73-year-old admitting the team he took into F1 back in 1993 almost collapsed completely. Now, with a rescue buyout complete, semi-retirement has become full retirement for Peter Sauber, who says he is no longer involved and owns "not a screwdriver" at Hinwil.
In fact, he said he will be holidaying in South Africa by the end of this week and may not even watch the 2017 season opener on television. Sauber admitted he still feels affected by the turmoil of his last years in F1.
"I needed some time to process the separation from my company," he said. "It is not easy and I have had sleepless nights. It was a real tightrope walk and a collapse was always possible," revealed Sauber. "For me it was an extremely stressful situation with many unpleasant encounters and telephone calls."
One rumour, for example, is that Sauber fell out with the team's ongoing boss, Monisha Kaltenborn. "We have very little contact," he admits. "I still have contacts with some employees, but no office and I'm never there. They say I am the founder and they will use the Sauber name, which is important for the new owners," said Sauber. "But overall, we made a clean break. It is better like that. So I have nothing to do with the company anymore."
So for now, Peter Sauber thinks the team that still bears his name will be last in 2017, "But I hope they will succeed in overtaking one or two teams". "There are no miracles in formula one," he admits. "When I look at the years after BMW, 2012 was the last really good season and after that it became difficult because of the lack of financial resources. During the development of the 2017 car, the time between May and September was very important and it was then that the funds were missing," said Sauber. (GMM)
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
M. Verstappen
C. Sainz jr
C. Leclerc
Bahrain
United Arab Emirates
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
Australia
Albert Park
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
Monaco
Monte Carlo
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Austria
Red Bull Ring
United Kingdom
Silverstone
Hungary
Hungaroring
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Italy
Monza
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Brazil
Interlagos
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
114,585 comments on Sauber
5 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Sauber
Replies (1)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
unfortunate for them, especially with that 2016 engine