Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Sauber F1 goes Mexican with Carlos Slim and new drivers]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/12/sauber-f1-goes-mexican-with-carlos-slim-and-new-drivers/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/12/sauber-f1-goes-mexican-with-carlos-slim-and-new-drivers/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/12/sauber-f1-goes-mexican-with-carlos-slim-and-new-drivers/#commentsFiled under: ,

New Sauber F1 driverThe dream of having an American team in Formula One may be dead, but that doesn't mean our friends South of the Border can't take a stab at it. A couple of years ago, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim was tied to potentially buying out Honda's F1 team when the Japanese automaker was preparing to withdraw from the sport. That deal never came to be, but the world's wealthiest man (having recently surpassed the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett) appears to be moving in on the Sauber team.

After racing for years as an independent team, Sauber sold out to BMW a few years back, which then subsequently followed Honda off the grid, leaving Peter Sauber to support the team on his own once again. Strapped for cash, the team has been racing plain white cars largely without major sponsorship this season, but a new deal could secure the team's future.

The deal involves sponsorship from Slim's company Telmex for an untold amount. Along with it, Sauber has signed Mexican driver Sergio Perez to a race seat for next season. Perez won the national class in British Formula Three back in 2007, drove for Team Mexico in A1GP and has won several races in GP2, a series in which he currently sits second. He's never driven an F1 car, though, but will race alongside Kamui Kobayashi next season. The news leaves Nick Heidfeld without a seat yet again as Perez signs as well with the Ferrari Driver Academy.

Coupled with the recently-announced contract to bring in GP3 champion Esteban Gutierrez, who also races under the Mexican flag as the team's test/reserve driver for next season, the news gives the struggling Swiss team a decidedly picante flavor for the upcoming season.

[Source: Sauber]

Continue reading Sauber F1 goes Mexican with Carlos Slim and new drivers

Sauber F1 goes Mexican with Carlos Slim and new drivers originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bmw-saubercarlos slimperezsaubersauber f1sergio pereztelmexTue, 12 Oct 2010 18:01:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19669346/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2010/10/12/sauber-f1-goes-mexican-with-carlos-slim-and-new-drivers/19669346/article-detail.xml 19669346 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/10/100177fda_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/10/100177fda.jpg <![CDATA[Heidfeld in, de la Rosa out at Sauber F1]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/15/heidfeld-in-de-la-rosa-out-at-sauber-f1/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/15/heidfeld-in-de-la-rosa-out-at-sauber-f1/http://www.autoblog.com/2010/09/15/heidfeld-in-de-la-rosa-out-at-sauber-f1/#commentsFiled under: ,



Mid-season driver changes don't happen often in Formula One, but they do happen occasionally. And the Sauber team - formerly owned by BMW - has done exactly that. After the bulk of a season of lackluster performance, the Swiss team has announced that it is removing Pedro de la Rosa from the cockpit for the grands prix left on the calendar.

In his place, Sauber has called Nick Heidfeld back up to the plate. Having spent seven seasons driving for Sauber in the past, scoring a dozen podiums along the way, Heidfeld is a known and proven talent at the team's headquarters in Hinwil.

Despite his talents, the German driver failed to secure a race seat for the 2010 season, and was retained instead by Mercedes as a test driver. He was subsequently released from his contract with Mercedes when he was recruited by Pirelli to test its new tire compounds, but will likely have to give that up given his renewed ties to Sauber.

Heidfeld will be driving alongside Kamui Kobayashi, who despite having failed to finish more races than de la Rosa, has scored more than three times as many points. With 27 world championship points and five races to go, Sauber sits in 8th place out of 12 in the constructors' championship standings, just ahead of Toro Rosso and the new teams. Will Heidfeld help the team turn around from the backmarkers they are now to the title contenders they were just a couple of seasons ago? Share your thoughts in the comments section below, or follow the jump for the team's official announcement.

[Source: Sauber]

Continue reading Heidfeld in, de la Rosa out at Sauber F1

Heidfeld in, de la Rosa out at Sauber F1 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bmw-sauberf1formula 1formula oneFormula1FormulaOneheidfeldkamui kobayashiKamuiKobayashinick heidfeldNickHeidfeldpedro de la rosaPedroDeLaRosasaubersauber f1SauberF1Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19634841/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2010/09/15/heidfeld-in-de-la-rosa-out-at-sauber-f1/19634841/article-detail.xml 19634841 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/sam14092010001607_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/09/sam14092010001607.jpg <![CDATA[BMW reaches agreement to sell F1 team back to founder Peter Sauber]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/27/bmw-reaches-agreement-to-sell-f1-team-back-to-founder-peter-saub/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/27/bmw-reaches-agreement-to-sell-f1-team-back-to-founder-peter-saub/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/27/bmw-reaches-agreement-to-sell-f1-team-back-to-founder-peter-saub/#commentsFiled under: ,



The future of Sauber F1 looks a little more secure. After BMW's announcement earlier this year that it would withdraw from its involvement in Formula one at the end of the 2009, the automaker has reached a deal to sell the team back to eponymous founder Peter Sauber.

The new deal comes just days after it became clear that the previously unknown Qadbak investment company that had a deal to buy the team may have in fact been nothing more than a scam. According to previous reports, Qadbak apparently just wanted to collect Sauber's share of the F1 commercial money.

Peter Sauber has apparently raised the financing to buy back the team he sold to BMW in 2005 although the announcement does not disclose the purchase price. The team is being restructured in accordance with new F1 rules designed to bring down costs, and the staff at team headquarters will be cut from the current 388 to 250, with the first batch of layoff notices landing in inboxes today.

[Source: BMW]

Continue reading BMW reaches agreement to sell F1 team back to founder Peter Sauber

BMW reaches agreement to sell F1 team back to founder Peter Sauber originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bmwBMW F1bmw f1 withdrawalbmw formula 1Bmw sauberbmw sauber f1bmw sauber f1 teamBMW-SauberBmwF1BmwF1WithdrawalBmwFormula1BmwSauberBmwSauberF1BmwSauberF1Teampeter sauberPeterSaubersauberSauber F1sauber f1 saleSauberF1SauberF1SaleFri, 27 Nov 2009 18:02:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/19256107/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2009/11/27/bmw-reaches-agreement-to-sell-f1-team-back-to-founder-peter-saub/19256107/article-detail.xml 19256107 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/p90046059_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/11/p90046059.jpg <![CDATA[VIDEO: Nick Heidfeld breaks BMW Sauber F1 car while showing off]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/06/video-nick-heidfeld-breaks-bmw-sauber-f1-car-while-showing-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/06/video-nick-heidfeld-breaks-bmw-sauber-f1-car-while-showing-off/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/06/video-nick-heidfeld-breaks-bmw-sauber-f1-car-while-showing-off/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Not that BMW's Sauber F1 car has anything more than three letters in common with cars that bear the propeller logo on public streets, but who's going to argue with the opportunity to lay down the tools early? Hotshoe Nick Heidfeld recently treated a crowd of laborer's at BMW's Munich factory to the spectacle of a big-dollar race car being treated like a hand-me-down Reliant, complete with a body-damaging finale. The shriek of a high-strung F1 racer while it slides around doing lurid donuts is a thing to behold, but the smile quickly fades when the front splitter gets tangled up in the curbing and ripped off the nose. Whoops. Video after the jump - Thanks for the tip, Ovidiu!


[Source: YouTube via Zercustoms]



Continue reading VIDEO: Nick Heidfeld breaks BMW Sauber F1 car while showing off

VIDEO: Nick Heidfeld breaks BMW Sauber F1 car while showing off originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 06 May 2008 17:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For you F1 fans, the BMW Sauber F1 Team is launching its 2008 challenger live on the team's website, www.bmw-sauber-f1.com. The unveiling happens Monday, January 14 from 12:00 to 12:30 CET. BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld has played down the team's title chances; nevertheless, BMW finished second in last year's Constructor's Championship (due to the exclusion of McLaren), and nearly doubled the next constructor's total. This is also one of the cars that current World Champion Kimi Raikkonen said he would be looking out for. BMW has climbed the charts without a superstar driver, which makes one think, to paraphrase Mars Blackmon, "It's gotta be the car."

[Source: BMW]

See the BMW-Sauber F1 launch live originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bmwbmw f1 teambmw sauber f1BmwF1TeamBmwSauberF1formula 1Formula1sauber f1SauberF1Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:29:00 EST http://www.autoblog.com/feed/1083878/article-comments.xml http://www.autoblog.com/feed/2008/01/11/see-the-bmw-sauber-f1-launch-live/1083878/article-detail.xml 1083878 http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/01/bmw_sauber_live_launch_thumbnail.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2008/01/bmw_sauber_live_launch.jpg -1 2