Highly motivated and excited, the Sauber F1 Team heads to the  most prestigious Grand Prix of the year. The Sauber C31-Ferrari’s performance has further improved since the introduction of the recent development package, and now it remains to be seen how this works on the narrow street circuit of Monaco. Kamui Kobayashi had a great race in the principality in 2011, and Sergio Pérez can’t wait to finally make it onto the grid at the Formula One race in Monte Carlo for the first time […]

Sauber was the team with the biggest update package as F1's ultra-rare in-season test began on Tuesday. Kamui Kobayashi was in charge of the revised C31, which including a new exhaust and front wing represented "the biggest update package" of all the teams at Mugello, according to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport. McLaren, in contrast, have taken "no great updates" to Tuscany, which explains why Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have left the task up to the British team's test drivers. It was a similar […]

Rumours that a top English premier league football club is entering Formula One as a sponsor have proved correct. Ever since Sauber has been running teaser 'Out of the blue' and 'True blue' graphics on its engine cover livery in China and Bahrain, speculation about the identity of the forthcoming sponsor have been swirling in the F1 paddock. We reported the rumour that the deal could be with the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, to promote his football club Chelsea. Swiss F1 team Sauber confirmed the […]

Jenson Button doubts other teams will be pushing too hard to rush a Mercedes-style 'double-DRS' to their 2012 package. The F-duct-style concept is, so far, the highest profile innovation of the season. So with the FIA declaring it fully legal, and Nico Rosberg breaking through with his maiden pole and win in Shanghai last weekend, it seems a no-brainer that the other teams will now be following suit. But McLaren's Button doesn't think so. "I really don't think it's giving them that much -- I […]

There are still some "gentlemen" in F1, team boss and owner Peter Sauber insists. Amid the recent F-duct debate, it was suggested that Mercedes' Ross Brawn had broken a teams' 'gentlemen's agreement' that the technology should not be pursued. "I think you need gentlemen in Formula 1 for this," Sport Bild reporter Ralf Bach jibed sarcastically during a news conference recently. But Sauber, arguably one of the few gentlemen in the paddock, told Sonntagsblick that he still has some peers. Asked if he was privately […]

Sauber is in a race for money after discovering its 2012 car is up to speed with F1's richest teams. As ever in Formula 1, world championships are won not on the basis of a clever initial design, but on a team's ability to continue to develop it throughout a long season. According to O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, the formerly BMW-owned Sauber team's chief executive Monisha Kaltenborn admits that the Hinwil based outfit cannot compete on that front with the likes of McLaren, Ferrari, […]

With the pecking order still not entirely clear after two races, it could be set to change all over again in the near future. That is the view of Peter Sauber, the Hinwil based team's owner and boss who witnessed his Mexican driver Sergio Perez display almost race-winning form at Sepang recently with the impressive new C31 car. He argues that the real key to 2012 is ongoing car development. "The decisive factor of course is how quickly can the teams develop their cars," he […]

Sauber has revealed it cannot afford to simply jump in and copy Mercedes' innovative F-duct solution. The small Swiss team had almost winning race pace in Malaysia last weekend even without the extra straight-line speed that would be provided by a system along the lines of Mercedes' DRS-complimenting concept. Despite their complaints about the legality of the system, there is little doubt the big-budget teams will be working frantically to emulate the Mercedes' concept, which to date has the blessing of the FIA. According to […]

Adrian Sutil has admitted he would relish the opportunity to return to Formula One with Sauber. Strong rumours in recent days - particularly in the wake of his podium in Malaysia - have linked Sergio Perez with Felipe Massa's race seat at Ferrari. That would create a vacancy at Sauber. Sutil, the Force India refugee who is sitting on the sidelines at the moment in the wake of his criminal assault conviction, hopes he would be near the top of the Swiss team's shortlist. "I […]

Those who watched Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix witnessed "the blossoming of a future champion". That is the view of Patrick Tambay, a French F1 driver of the 80s who raced with Ferrari. Sergio Perez currently drives for Sauber, but he is the cream of Ferrari's development programme and Tambay told RMC he thinks the Mexican is now definitely set for a future with the famous Italian team. Perez's current boss Peter Sauber, however, insists that is not going to happen, at least for now. "If […]

Amid speculation regarding Felipe Massa's immediate future, Sergio Perez's father has revealed that Ferrari approached Sauber. Earlier, Sauber driver Perez played down the rumours about Massa's future, including the suggestion he was at the very top of Ferrari's replacement list. "Sergio is focused one hundred per cent on (performing in) Malaysia," the 22-year-old Mexican's father Antonio is quoted by the Spanish-language Medio Tiempo. Perez snr's son is the cream of Ferrari's development driver 'academy' programme. "Since last year, Ferrari has had three drivers: Alonso, Massa […]

Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi ended the second test in Barcelona atop the timing screens after a morning lap of 1:22.312 was fast enough to ensure his place above his rivals. The final day of the test saw hefty running for most drivers. Pacesetter Kobayashi lapped the Circuit de Catalunya 145 times, closely followed by Nico Rosberg (139) and Pastor Maldonado (134). Most of Friday's red flags were caused by teams running low fuel tests, although Paul di Resta lost the rear of his VJM05 exiting Campsa […]