Sauber sign 3 year deal for Ferrari engines

[sandman77]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/40751289

Does this mean they will get the most up to date power units or will they still be using year old designs?

[2fast748]

crash.net are reporting it's the latest engines so should be good for Sauber (might push them ahead of McHonda!)

It's funny though, on my twitter timeline this morning 2 tweets next to each said Sauber had signed with Ferrari and Mercedes.

[anonymous-user]

Another nail in the Honda coffin.

They will join Formula E next year mark my words.

[Steamer]

Arrr - I watched GP2 practice this morning before reading about the Ferrari engine deal..

...There was a fairly firm comment about Leclerc and him stepping up to F1 next season.

[Supersam83]

So Leclerc and Giovinazzi as the race drivers then?

Wonder if they will be badged Alfa Romeo engines as well.

[deadslow]

I'd like to see Sauber get ahead. They've got a great racing history.

[m444ttb]

deadslow said:

I'd like to see Sauber get ahead. They've got a great racing history.

Agreed they always seem to lose out somehow. RedBull went to set up their own team. Mercedes put their efforts into McLaren then their own team. Petronas jumped ship to Mercedes. BMW running away was nearly the straw that broke them.

I'd like to see an Sauber Alfa-Romeo team working as a Ferrari junior outfit. I suspect McLaren wouldn't!

[Steamer]

m444ttb said:

deadslow said:

I'd like to see Sauber get ahead. They've got a great racing history.

Agreed they always seem to lose out somehow. RedBull went to set up their own team. Mercedes put their efforts into McLaren then their own team. Petronas jumped ship to Mercedes. BMW running away was nearly the straw that broke them.

I'd like to see an Sauber Alfa-Romeo team working as a Ferrari junior outfit. I suspect McLaren wouldn't!

And also bringing in new talent: Kimi, Massa, Nick Heidfeld, Kubica (not 100% sure if he started in F1 with Sauber though), Perez..

[Muzzer79]

I'm a bit disappointed.

I for one would like Sauber to come out from Ferrari's shadow and do something under their own steam.

Seems like they're intent on being Ferrari's whipping boys and taking Ferrari-Academy drivers who will likely never drive for Ferrari.....

[rubystone]

Steamer said:

And also bringing in new talent: Kimi, Massa, Nick Heidfeld, Kubica (not 100% sure if he started in F1 with Sauber though), Perez..

That was a very different Sauber. The current one deserves jackst. Ericsson will be in the car next year alongside one of Gio or LeClerc.

[thegreenhell]

Are Sauber the only one of the established teams (excluding new boys Haas) to have never won a GP in any incarnation of the team?

[Mr Red Barron]

Didn't Kubica win for them at Canada the year after his big crash there? I know they were BMW at the time but still the same team.

[rallycross]

The Sauber team was Peter Sauber (and carried on by MK) it was a great little independent team that produced results above what could be expected from such a small budget that sadly is no longer enough to survive in the ridiculous cost structure of F1 today.

Sadly what is left now is a just shadow of the former team and will probably disappear as soon as the pay driver funds which gives the new owner a revenue stream dry up, in the next 4 - 16 months.

I hope I am wrong but they have been floundering around the back of the grid with no sponsors for over 4 years where is the money going to come from to pay for the power units and develop the cars? The business model of F1 is broken, its a sad state of affairs.

[carl_w]

Mr Red Barron said:

Didn't Kubica win for them at Canada the year after his big crash there? I know they were BMW at the time but still the same team.

Yep, 2008 Canadian GP. A fair smattering of 2nds and 3rds over the years too. Also finished 2nd in the constructors' championship in 2007 due to McLaren's exclusion, and 3rd in 2008.

[slipstream 1985]

Kinda sad that honda will/may be leaving, variety makes the fied more interesting and that will be down to 3 engine suppliers from 4. A few years ago there were 6.

Out of interest when were there the most? Not including rebadged engines like tag heur etc.

[Vaud]

Could mean that Ferrari have 2 feeder teams... Haas and Sauber - handy for negotiations with Liberty into 2020...

[rubystone]

rallycross said:

The Sauber team was Peter Sauber (and carried on by MK) it was a great little independent team that produced results above what could be expected from such a small budget that sadly is no longer enough to survive in the ridiculous cost structure of F1 today.

Sadly what is left now is a just shadow of the former team and will probably disappear as soon as the pay driver funds which gives the new owner a revenue stream dry up, in the next 4 - 16 months.

I hope I am wrong but they have been floundering around the back of the grid with no sponsors for over 4 years where is the money going to come from to pay for the power units and develop the cars? The business model of F1 is broken, its a sad state of affairs.

Ironically they are probably in their best financial state since the BMW days. Rausing isn't short of a few bob and there's no way Fred would've joined them without proof they had the funding to realise his ambitions. The Ferrari deal is the first proof of that.

[Frimley111R]

slipstream 1985 said:

Kinda sad that Honda will/may be leaving, variety makes the field more interesting and that will be down to 3 engine suppliers from 4. A few years ago there were 6.
.

Sort of but they make a very poor product that severely limits the one team they supply. If you look at it that way its good riddance. Having cars fail to start/finish a race for 3 years plus is not what F1 needs. It may sound harsh but they're not up to the job in F1 and have no place there these days.

It a little like when Bernie said maybe teams could run 3 cars and people said what about the smaller teams and he said 'I'd rather have more top team competitive cars than also ran's which finish laps down'.

[hairyben]

m444ttb said:

I'd like to see an Sauber Alfa-Romeo team working as a Ferrari junior outfit. I suspect McLaren wouldn't!

Dunno, They seem to labour under the constant delusion that their return to their rightfull place at the front is imminent, so what those back-marker teams get up to is kind of irrelevent...

[jamiebae]

rallycross said:

The Sauber team was Peter Sauber (and carried on by MK) it was a great little independent team that produced results above what could be expected from such a small budget that sadly is no longer enough to survive in the ridiculous cost structure of F1 today.

Sadly what is left now is a just shadow of the former team and will probably disappear as soon as the pay driver funds which gives the new owner a revenue stream dry up, in the next 4 - 16 months.

I hope I am wrong but they have been floundering around the back of the grid with no sponsors for over 4 years where is the money going to come from to pay for the power units and develop the cars? The business model of F1 is broken, its a sad state of affairs.

I'm not sure I agree with most of this. The team are struggling, partly down to their location and the strength of the CHF - their 'regular' staff will be paid twice as much as the UK or Italian based teams offer, and for senior guys it's harder to get them to move.

The team aren't reliant on pay driver funds to the same extent now, largely because they're owned by one of the driver's backers, but that should help them to stabilise a bit. The Ferrari deal should help too as it gives them funding to run a seriously good driver without missing out on the cash from someone with funding. They have a decent factory and some good equipmet so hopefully next year they'll be looking a bit stronger.