At the end of 2005, Peter Sauber seemed set to turn his back on
Formula One after thirteen long seasons in the sport. At the age of
62, the affable Swiss had just overseen the sale of an eighty
percent stake in his eponymous midfield team to car manufacturer
BMW. After thirty five years of wheeling and dealing, first in
sports cars and then in top flight single seaters, the former team
principal was well set for life out of the fast lane.
He must have quite a shock when less than four years later,
BMW's Motorsport Director Mario Theissen picked up the phone and
asked if he'd like his team back. This was at the very height of
the manufacturer exodus, as global giants Toyota, BMW, Renault and
Honda all scurried for the exit, surrendering Formula One to its
privateer roots. Hanging over the Munich board's decision to leave
the sport was the questionable motivation behind abandoning a
credible attempt on the 2008 world title in favour of a stronger
shot at the ultimate trophy next time around. Unfortunately, 2009
proved to be utterly disastrous.
And so, Sauber found himself dragged out of retirement and
leading a small group of investors to take back his team. The
stumbling block was price: BMW wanted €65m, a considerable sum
considering that Honda had let technical director Ross Brawn take
on their operation for a nominal £1 six months previously. Talks
fell through. And then Qadbak appeared on the scene, a mysterious
investment vehicle for "certain Middle Eastern and European based
families". A provisional agreement to buy the team was made, but it
quickly fell through when speculation arose that the firm was
merely a front for a convicted British fraudster. Hurtling towards
the end of the season, there was no saviour in sight for the team's
four hundred employees.
Finally, it all came together. Sauber returned to the fold with
a much reduced offer, and in late November the last minute deal was
done. The team renewed their old engine partnership with Ferrari,
and employed impressive Toyota substitute Kamui Kobayashi and
McLaren's testing veteran Pedro de la Rosa to drive the new C29.
Sauber owed their survival to Toyota's decision to withdraw from
the sport after eight fruitless years, hence freeing room for a
thirteenth team on the grid at the last moment. It had been a close
run thing, but Sauber were back at Hinwil.
It wasn't all easygoing at Hinwil, though. The team lost the
commercial rights they had spent years obtaining, and sponsorship
was at an absolute zero - all too apparent when the stickerless car
appeared at a low budget launch at the first test of 2010. Peter
Sauber admitted that his decision to buy the team back was one
based on "emotion", and cast doubt over his own future at the helm.
The future looked uncertain, to say the least.
In the two years that have passed, the veteran team boss has
done a remarkable job of putting his team back on its feet. The
team has scored eighty-eight points over the last two campaigns,
placing them a solid seventh in the 2011 standings, ahead of
Williams, Toro Rosso, Lotus, Virgin and HRT. They retain the
exciting young Japanese hotshot Kobayashi, and with the addition of
Sergio Perez to their youthful line-up, Sauber have found favour
with the world's richest man, Mexico's Carlos Slim. The team's
position is still not what you would call secure, but the steady
Swiss squad (once victors in the Le Mans 24 hours, and famous for
fostering the likes of Schumacher, Raikkonen and Massa) has
certainly pulled itself back from the brink.
But what of the future? Well, that's less predictable. The fact
of the matter is that Peter Sauber wanted to retire in 2005, and he
still wants to retire in 2012. Recounting his decision to return to
the pitwall, the team principal said that if he had left four
hundred people unemployed, "every day I'd have been asking myself
why". With that sentiment aside, he declared his mission to be to
"bring even greater stability to the team". And although he has no
potential buyers lined up, he warns that "I didn't want to remain
on the pit wall when I turned 70. That's still the case." With that
landmark birthday looming next year, who knows what lies ahead for
the hard working little Swiss outfit?