The Swissmade Team

Much smaller in terms of budget and personnel in comparison to the several more celebrated teams that are traditionally in the limelight, the Sauber F1 Team  has managed to quietly and consistently deliver highly respectable results since it entered the sport  20 years ago. 

Sauber’s admirable track record, which includes regularly finishing in the upper midfield in the Constructors’ Championship, also embodies its valuable function as arguably the best ‘drivers’ kindergarten.' Among the now famous names who first came into F1 with Sauber  are Kimi Raikkonen (in 2001), Felipe Massa (2002), Robert Kubica (2006) and Sebastian Vettel (2007).

Uniquely distanced away from the other F1 teams (all headquartered in either England or Italy) Sauber is in many ways a reflection of the attributes of  the country in which it is based. Beyond the monumental alpine scenery, the picturesque mountain villages, the placidly grazing brown cows and the quaint cuckoo clocks is one of the most prosperous and efficiently run countries in the world. Switzerland is noted for prudent and safe money management (banking is one of its biggest industries) and its economy, which still includes traditional farming, also features cutting edge, high tech science and commerce.

Notable Swiss achievements include founding the Red Cross (its insignia is the reverse image of the Swiss flag) and the World Wide Web, which was first developed in 1989 by computer scientists working near Geneva at CERN (European Orgaization for Nuclear Research), the world’s leading scientific organization. Manufacturing expensive precision timekeeping devices has long been a mainstay of the Swiss economy – in terms of value  50% of the world’s watches are Swissmade. 

Trains are punctual to the second and the country runs like clockwork.  For over 500 years it has been the prototypical democracy, a nation (with four official languages) noted for multinational harmony among its German, French and Italian populations that now number 8 million citizens. Collectively, Swiss people have a reputation for being responsible, dependable, hard-working and honest. While quietly going about its business Switzerland is fiercely independent politically. It has not been involved in a war for nearly two centuries (nor does it allow motor racing, which was banned following the 1955 Le Mans disaster). It is a peace-loving country but has a strong military component to protect its independence.

With a background like this the Sauber F1 Team is well-placed for the success is has achieved. Much of the credit must go to the founder and talent spotter Peter Sauber, who is steadfastly Swiss yet, like his country, also innovative, modernly enlightened and forward thinking. Last year, as a reward for her services and as an investment for the future, he appointed Monisha Kaltenborn as Sauber’s Chief Executive Officer and gave her a 1/3 share in the team. Sauber’s distinction of having the only female so highly placed takes the concept of F1 teamwork to another dimension.

The  Swiss national motto - ‘All for one and one for all’ - sounds a lot like the way its F1 team works.



Sauber logo: an example of  cutting edge Swiss graphic design