BMW Sauber

Interesting facts

BMW bought the Swiss Sauber team in June 2005, and from the 2006 season the outfit raced as BMW Sauber, officially under a German racing licence while keeping bases in both Hinwil, Switzerland and Munich, Germany. In its debut year the team took two podiums and 36 points to finish fifth in the constructors' championship - a marked improvement on Sauber's previous eighth-place finish. In 2007, promoted after McLaren's disqualification, the team finished second in the constructors' championship, the strongest result of BMW Sauber's existence. The team's only race win came from Robert Kubica at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix - BMW's sole victory as a works operation. After that Canadian win the team shifted its development resources early to the 2009 car, a decision that backfired: the new chassis proved uncompetitive, scoring just six points across the first six races of 2009. On 29 July 2009, BMW announced its withdrawal from Formula One, citing the global financial crisis and frustration with the sport's technical regulations. Peter Sauber bought his own team back on 27 November, and it continued racing simply as Sauber. BMW Sauber's Formula 1 history ran from 2006 to 2009, 4 seasons in total as a German team. The team scored a total of 308 constructors' championship points. The team's best season was 2007, when it finished 2nd in the Constructors' Championship with 101 points.