Sauber Motorsport

Sauber Motorsport AG, currently competing in Formula One as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber and also known simply as Kick Sauber or Sauber, is a Swiss motorsport engineering company and race team. Founded by Peter Sauber as PP Sauber AG in 1970, the team produced sports cars for hillclimbing and endurance racing until 1993. In the World Sportscar Championship, the team's factory affiliation with Mercedes-Benz yielded two world championships and overall victory at the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans. After Group C racing regulations were outlawed, Sauber joined Formula One in 1993 with engine support from Mercedes. After a brief stint as the Ford factory team in 1995 and 1996, the team operated as an independent constructor until being purchased by BMW in 2005.

As BMW Sauber from 2006 to 2009, the team achieved its best results in Formula 1. Robert Kubica achieved the team's only F1 win to date at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, and the team finished second in that year's World Constructors Championship. However, the team struggled to adapt to 2009's regulation changes and BMW announced its withdrawal mid-season due to the global financial crisis. After heavy speculation, BMW sold the team back to founder Peter Sauber for one euro.

As an independent constructor from 2010 to 2025, the team runs with customer Ferrari engines. After being acquired by Finn Rausing in 2016, the team cancelled a deal to become the Honda works team and drew closer to Ferrari. From 2018 onwards the team entered a title sponsorship agreement with Alfa Romeo, competing as Alfa Romeo Racing and later as Alfa Romeo F1 Team until 2023.

In the penultimate season of its Alfa Romeo sponsorship deal, Sauber announced that 75% of the team would be acquired by Audi to become the Audi factory team in Formula One in 2026. This plan was revised in 2024 when Audi acquired 100% of the team, who later sold a minority stake to the Qatar Investment Authority. From 2026 onwards, all sporting and chassis operations will continue to be based in Hinwil, Switzerland. Engine manufacturing for the team will take place in Neuburg, Germany with a satellite technology facility in Bicester, United Kingdom.

In January 2025, Audi reported that it had completed the purchase of the team's parent company, Sauber Holding, for €600 million.

Peter Sauber began building sports cars in his parent's garage in Zurich in 1970. His first car, the Sauber C1, was powered by a four-cylinder Cosworth engine and competed in local hillclimbing competitions. The car's name was chosen to honor his wife Christiane, and all Sauber-built cars to date have featured a name starting with the letter C (including cars produced by BMW Sauber, which were retroactively named the C25 to C28 after the introduction of the C29). After debuting in Group C with the Sauber SHS C6, the team began collaborating with Mercedes-Benz in 1985 with the Sauber C8. In 1987, the team introduced the very successful Sauber C9. After a year of testing, Sauber became the Mercedes factory team in 1988 and competed as Team Sauber Mercedes. With a roster of drivers including Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jochen Mass, Jean-Louis Schlesser, and Mauro Baldi, the team dominated the world championship in 1989 and 1990. The highlight of this period included two consecutive world championships and overall victory at the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans with Mass, Manuel Reuter, and Stanley Dickens. As Group C regulations began to wane, the team struggled with the unsuccessful C11 and C291. After Group C was outlawed, the Mercedes-Benz sports car partnership ended and the stillborn C292 never entered competition.

Outside of prototypes, Sauber built a BMW M1 chassis for the 1980 BMW M1 Procar Championship. The team raced with Marc Surer, Manfred Schurti, and Walter Nußbaumer, achieving three pole positions and one win in the series. In 1981 the team built two custom M1 chassis to comply with Group 5 regulations, upgrading them substantially from their original Procar configurations. During the 1981 World Sportscar Championship, drivers Nelson Piquet and Hans-Joachim Stuck won the Nürburgring 1000km for Sauber customer team GS Tuning.

The first 'turbo era' of Formula One ended with the 1988 season. The 1.5-litre turbocharged engines were phased out in favour of naturally aspirated 3.5-litre engines. Massive demand for engine suppliers and a constant influx of new teams saw car manufacturers like Subaru, Porsche and Lamborghini enter Formula One as engine suppliers and sometimes buying out existing teams. Other projects never progressed beyond design studies, such as one carried out by Simtek for BMW. It was a turbulent time that led to the withdrawal of many small teams and even more famous marques such as Brabham and Lotus.