Goodbye Sauber, thanks for the memories

After today’s Grand Prix, F1 says goodbye to the Sauber name - a name that carries a mixed and storied history and a team known for developing drivers, as well as creating some of the great F1 moments.

Founded by Peter Sauber, an electrician, turned car salesman, turned eventual F1 Team principal who named his race cars after his wife, the team has over 500 Grand Prix starts since their formation onto the grid in 1993.

📸 Every Sauber car began with ‘C’ e.g the pictured C34 - the C stood for Christiane, an ode to Peter Sauber’s wife.

Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa, Nico Hulkenberg, Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez are among the names to have passed though the Sauber ranks, but as they prepare to become the Audi team, here’s three of their finest moments.

Points on debut - 1993

📸 JJ Lehto driving the first F1 Sauber, C12.

New teams don’t always take to F1 like ducks to water, but in the opener of the 1993 season, Sauber managed just that.

Finnish driver JJ Lehto led the team to a fifth place finish at the opener at South Africa to get the perfect start.

Kubica wins in Canada - 2008

📸Kubica celebrates Sauber’s finest moment, a win in Canada.

A year after a tremendous crash at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Kubica provided the then BMW Sauber team with their finest moment.

The Pole led Sauber to a one-two in Canada, taking his and Sauber’s first and only F1 victory.

Nico gets his podium - 2025

📸 Finally! Hulkenberg celebrates his 239th race, with his first podium.

We had all assumed it would never happen. We had accepted it. 239 Grand Prix in, Nico Hulkenberg had other plans.

In mixed conditions at the British Grand Prix, the veteran German driver mastered the rain and dictated the strategy to go from P19 on the grid to P3 and his long awaited podium.

📸 Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited, Sky Sports.