Formula 1 teams don’t make a leap from Backmarker to Frontrunner overnight. This is an absurd premise that is one of the criticisms of the plot in F1: The Movie. However, its release coincided with Sauber’s real-world transformation from backmarker to candidates at the first eight events of 2025. Nico Fulkenberg’s third place in the UK Grand Prix could have been a “winner” that was smaller than Hollywood’s demands. And while there was no existential threat to drive the team into drama, it would be a surprising story without a massive story like a film.
The epic needs a backstory, and while Sauber is complicated, it has it. Founded in 1970 to build and operate Hill Climb machinery, which was campaigned by founder Peter Sauber, he took a long journey to Formula 1 in 1993 through his success with sports car Mercedes. Sauber’s F1 graduation was intended to go it alone only when Mercedes retreated. Mercedes eventually connected to a McLaren and adopted it, adopting the Ilmall/Mercedes engine, which Zarber first ran.
Sauber built a reputation as a practically operated midfield operation before BMW purchased it. After running as BMW Sauber between 2006 and 2009, BMW pulled the plug thanks to a combination of global financial crisis and the resulting slump. Peter Sauber, who held the stake throughout this period, saved the team, but it was difficult in the days when Sauber was wobbling at the edge of financial oblivion before being bought by Swedish billionaire Finn Rousing. After selling to Michael Andretti in 2021, Audi began acquiring the team and began running in 2022 with four seasons in the Alfa Romeo name thanks to sponsorship deals.
It brings great expectations. Sauber has fallen far below the last two years. It didn’t get as bad as it would have been for the fictional Team APX GP, which had no points in two and a half seasons at the start of F1: The Movie, but Sauber wasn’t too far. From mid-2022 to the end of 2024, they tied for just 24 points in 59 races. This brings us to the real start of the story. Sauber’s terrible start will be until 2025.
Hope was high after its appearance in late 2024, but preseason tests in Bahrain were nightmares. The car had to be set hard, difficult to drive, unpredictable and slow. In the worst case scenario, the simulation tool wasn’t working as it said it should. At least an upgrade has been introduced to the Australian Grand Prix, which consists of new front wings, floors and bodywork representing the 2025 “real” Sauber. This improved the car, but everything was on the sea, only from the ones behind to the ones behind. This is the reality of the first eight events of 2025, with Halkenberg’s 7th place in Australia, with more timing for pit stops when the rain returns to speed than it is. Hulkenberg mentioned cars that “struggle with traffic” and “challenging to drive”, but Gabriel Bortoleto said “even when the pace is very difficult,” referring to “unpredictable balance,” and chose just four comments from the entire event.
This was tackled with upgrades that would make the car better for combat. F1: The Movie Style. Rather, they are now more active in the turbulent air around other cars than before. This is a problem for any Formula One vehicle, but Sauber was particularly weak in the region early in the season. After being caught up in the Haas obstacles of Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Boltreto’s trip to gravel on the opening lap of China’s Grand Prix shows what’s wrong. This is not a Hollywood idea for cars that work brilliantly in magically dirty air, even if it’s improved. Instead, it is the result of the overall aerodynamic improvements that resulted in the creation of a car with fewer Peaky. This is about making aerodynamic performance more robust. This means that you don’t tend to suffer from stalling or networks of interacting vortexes caused by airflow separation, leading to sudden downforce degradation.
“I call it drivability,” says team principal Jonathan Wheatley. “I remember sitting (on the pitwall) in Jeddah while I was qualifying and thinking, ‘The driver can’t choose the correct brake point for Turn 1.’ The car was very difficult to stop and turn from there. The driver remembers moving away from there saying that he couldn’t build consistent lap time because the car was handing in certain circumstances.
“What I noticed from the first upgrade was that I was confident in the onboard cameras, especially during the qualifying sessions. And with a development program that is confident in the car, you can enjoy driving. The reason I’m in the second quarter this year (more often) is that I have a wider operating window.”
The Sauber upgrade will increase the driving ability of the car and increase the confidence of the driver. And while the improved parts won’t be carried over until next year, the lessons learned from the technical side will be. Zak Mauger/Getty Images
Wheatley mentions the new floor that appeared in the nineth race of the season in Spain. We had originally planned two races ahead of time, but this was the result of a rigorous investigation at Sauber’s Hinwil Base, and some rigorous investigation into why the cars weren’t behaving as expected from the start. This process not only made the car more competitive, but also, crucially, improved the technical team’s understanding and depth of methodology. This underlying science will allow the parts to be relocated to the 2026 project, even though they are not.
“Barcelona was the result of a homework that got a bit of awkward surprise at the beginning of this season and wasn’t where we should be,” Key said. “Our (performance) numbers are in theory quite high, and if we had achieved that, we would have been where we are now or even better, but we didn’t (i.e. the initial reaction went very deep here. We’ll get back on track and repeat.”
Barcelona’s floor was a significant change. Hulkenberg has transformed performance gains into an astonishing fifth place in Spain as Kimi Antonelli’s retirement has caused a safer vehicle, bolting fast cars and fresh soft that can pass the Max Verstappen penalty. However, the fact that he was in ninth place in merit showed how big a step was taken in providing all seasons, what Hulkenberg said was what he said was “fast, driveable, consistent and comfortable”.
Offering it really makes a difference and brings a greater performance boost than Sauber expected. The car produced high downforce in the Spanish package, but the improvement in pace was exacerbated by the driver’s ability to attack. In addition to further iterations of floors introduced in Austria and the UK, if this were what the team calls a three-stage upgrade, we can see why Sauber has become so strong. Although the qualified performance has been slightly improved, race pacing is significantly better, especially with high fuel loads. This helped drivers benefit even in races where qualifying was not successful.
“The upgrades have brought about a wide range of performance,” Whaitley said after Hungarian Liguramri, where Boltreto finished sixth in Merit. “It seems like we can get a little closer than the other teams, but drivers look very comfortable with cars on different tire compounds and different circuits. That’s very encouraging.”
The result of these improvements is 45 points distance, taking in seventh place in the constructors championship and competing for fifth place, given Williams is just nine points ahead. The key to that total is 15 points, finishing third in Silverstone, Kobayashi Kawayama’s first podium finish at the 2012 Japan Grand Prix. As a Grizzled veteran, he left for F1 Scrapheap, but back to return to the much-awaited “winning” (well, third place), Hulkenberg’s 2025 story has a touch of Brad Pitt’s character from F1: The Sonny Hayes. Boltreto’s season has been impressive from the start, but he also has a young hotshot teammate.
This is far from the end of the story, and a real challenge comes for Sauber. Audi’s stated purpose to challenge victory and world championships by the end of the decade is ambitious, and recovering from a demonic start to achieve midfield respect is a drop in the ocean compared to what is necessary to achieve it. There is still a huge amount of adoption, restructuring and building, but what encourages is the technical breakthrough. It is positive to introduce one package that will improve the problem, but the fact that further developments have repeated benefits is important. Therefore, internally expectations are high for rules reset in 2026. This will allow for the first sheet of true clean sheet of paper, designed under the leadership of Mattiabinott, who joined together with the co-title of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer last year.
This is where real-world stories deviate from the film. F1 does not have shortcuts. While this team still has a long way to go as they approach the Audi hentai, the improvements in the tools, the growth of know-how are conclusive evidence that progress is being made, despite nothing showing it just a few months ago. It’s not that much with the grand plan of things, but it’s the beginning. Years later, it may even lead to the perfect Hollywood end of Sauber.
