Sauber open to merge with other teams

Jordan Wilkins · Sep 23, 2014

The recent ongoing budget problems for the Swiss Sauber team have become common knowledge amongst the F1 community.

The team has always had one of the smaller budgets in F1 since they joined the grid in 1993, yet they have always managed to produce giant killing results however their budget issues seems to for the first time impacting their results on track. Bernie Ecclestone's recent comment on 3 car teams has met with Sauber's approval, but only under the right circumstances.

The team rejected an approach last winter to merge with the Caterham F1 team and in response to Ecclestone's recent comments on the potential for 3 car teams from 2015, Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn revealed the team's response to this below.

"Whatever the deal is, it just has to make sense for us, and, because of our location in Switzerland, it's a bit difficult to have a team down the road come and say 'let's get together on this', So if one does something like this with us you have to be fully aware of the fact that since major assets that a team needs are in Switzerland and not in let's say England, I can't pack up my windtunnel and go across."

Kaltenborn later added “So you have to really be prepared then to have your centre there and it wouldn't be wise to lose the efficiency we have. We have a very high efficiency in our team, we didn't do that with BMW as well although were just some 300-odd kilometres away. They maintained the entity, the way it is, the structures we have to have that efficiency at a high level. So, if something like this comes up, I think we would have to really have the centre still where we are and then see what the other team is willing to give up.”

Feel free to respond with your own comments on the potential of 3 car teams from next year or the potential merger of smaller teams such as Sauber below.

Yuri · Sep 23, 2014

3 car teams seem more logical, but it brings some practical problems with it. It'd be better if the Caterhams and Marussias would be replaced by more competitive cars, as they're essentionally just placeholders on the grid

R.J. O'Connell · Sep 23, 2014

I guarantee you that not all eight teams would be able to run three cars unless 1) someone brings enough sponsorship to cover the cost of adding an additional team of engineers and more mechanics or 2) there's a merger.

Caterham and Marussia have had ambitions of moving out of the back of the grid for five years but they've been hamstrung by the lack of a cost cap that was virtually guaranteed to them when they entered, a revenue sharing model that sees them get next to no prize money, and an overall economic structure that has yet to wean itself off the teat of tobacco sponsorship. They began life without needing to take "useless pay drivers" like Chilton or Ericsson. As organizations, Caterham at their lowest point, and HRT in their three years, were still much more professional and reputable organizations than Life Engines, Andrea Moda Formula, or MasterCard Lola - and yet these are the teams that Caterham/Marussia/HRT are likened to.

As a fan of Minardi, a team that gave several young drivers their first big F1 breaks, as did HRT with Ricciardo, and Marussia with Bianchi, and Sauber with countless drivers over the last 20 years - FIA/FOM should be fighting to ensure their future, not actively trying to exterminate them.

Bram Hengeveld · Sep 23, 2014

The proposed three car teams solution will bring some interesting new problems. F1 teams have one pitboxunit for two cars. This means that every other pitbox will have a shared unit with another team?

Spies everywhere

Eckhart von Glan · Sep 23, 2014

Let's hope there will always be smaller teams, what is sport without an underdog strutting his stuff? I totally agree it was a huge mistake to first sign caterham and marussia on and then pull the carpet out from under their feet by not sticking to the cash cap they were promised before they signed up. If the big teams had to run on those budgets ...
The money poured in is ridiculous, also the way it is unevenly divided, making the playing field a little less level each year. For a different approach, witness DTM or the BTCC.