In the run-up to the start of pre-season testing Motorsport Week brings you left-field reflections and stories of teams, drivers and reserves that will be part of the Formula 1 paddock in 2019.
Sauber is not winless in Formula 1 but its sole triumph came at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, when it was owned and effectively run by manufacturer giant BMW.
Either side of that four-year spell in the late 2000s it has operated as an independent and has not mounted the top step of the podium. It came very close in 2012.
The campaign is remembered as one of Formula 1’s least predictable, assisted by Pirelli’s tricky-to-grasp and high-wearing rubber, while Sauber delivered an aerodynamically strong package.
Sauber wound up with four podiums and a front-row start but it was in Malaysia where sophomore Sergio Perez almost pulled off a giant-killer of a result.
Heavy rain affected the early phases of the race at Sepang and Perez profited from an early switch from Intermediates to Wets, rising to third position, having started ninth.
The deluge of water led to the race’s suspension and at the restart Perez wound up in the lead once everyone had switched back to Intermediates, but was immediately passed by the flying Fernando Alonso.
Alonso opened up a lead but a charging Perez honed back in and was on the Ferrari driver’s tail, at which point Alonso stopped for slicks. Perez came in one lap later – the difference crucial enough to leave the gap between them at five seconds. Perez fought back and closed up to Alonso’s rear with seven laps remaining but was given a cautionary message from his Sauber crew not to jeopardise second spot.
Shortly after he went wide and dropped time – but still came home just 2.2s shy of Alonso. It was a remarkable drive that would have netted victory but for the equally astonishing performance from Alonso in Ferrari’s uncompetitive early-season F2012.
It is the closest Sauber has come to victory as an independent team, while Perez's 2012 performances brought him to the attention of McLaren, who signed him as a replacement for Mercedes-bound Lewis Hamilton.
