Mercedes

Welcome back to my one-off blog documenting the past history of the current Formula 1 teams on the grid today!

This later than normal post involves one of the oldest team names in the history of Formula 1. The Silver Arrows have been competing since the 30s, enjoying a very successful first few years. After that they withdrew from the sport, only to supply engines to teams. But the current team has had a very dynamic background.

DAIMIER-BENZ 

First Entered: 1954
Drivers Championships: 2

Mercedes entered under the name Daimier-Benz for the 1954 and 1955 seasons, and endured unparalled success winning both of the drivers championships with the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio. However after a Mercedes disaster in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955 (which resulted in 80 spectator deaths) forced the remainder of the Formula 1 season to be cancelled, and Mercedes felt the need to pull out of the sport entirely.

Tyrrell

First Entered: 1970
Pole Positions: 19
Race Wins: 23
Points: 617
Constructors Championships: 1
Drivers Championships: 3





In absolutely no relation to the team already mentioned, Tyrrell was a team set up by Ken Tyrrell and endured many great successes in the early years. But like the trends back then, this soon faded away. The team can boast a great number of drivers who entered the cockpit such as Jean Alesi, Jody Scheckter and Francois Covert. The greatest success was Scotland's favourite racing legend and three time World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart (although he only won one here). 

The team does have a certain accolade that many say will be forever untouched. They are the only team ever to have won a Grand Prix with a six wheeler car! An innovative design that was soon abandoned.

SIX WHEELS?!?!?!

BAR 


First Entered: 1999
Pole Positions: 2
Race Wins: 0
Points: 227
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0




British American Racing (BAR) took over as main sponsor for the Tyrrell team from 1999 onwards exclusively becoming BAR. The team had big ambitions and landed World Champion Jacques Villeneuve to drive for them. This marked the first time a car had emerged from the Brackley facilities. Their ambitions often became annoying, stating they were already an excellent team and that they could win a race in their first ever season.  Between three drivers, they only managed to finish 11 races, with a rookie driver completing a finish before Villeneuve. The 2000 season was a big improvement but their real successes did not start occurring until Jenson Button joined in 2003. His following season saw a peak performance which seen the Brackley team grasp 2nd in the Constructors Championship.

HONDA


First Entered: 2006
Pole Positions: 1
Race Wins: 1
Points: 106
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0







In their debut season, Honda acquired Rubens Barrichello to race alongside Button, a line-up which continued right the way through to the next incarnation. Button achieved his first ever win in 2006 which remained the teams only win. In 2008, the team gave up on their current season to focus on the brand new rule changes for 2009. However, Honda pulled the plug and withdrew from motor racing. The team had no idea what to do, or where the future lies. Fortunately, team principle Ross Brawn reacted quickly.

BRAWN GP


First Entered: 2009
Pole Positions: 5
Race Wins: 8
Points: 172
Constructors Championships: 1
Drivers Championships: 1



The BGP 001 has to be the most beautiful car ever created in F1. Untill 2012, the 2009 season was my favourite ever purely because of the excitement of this team. From the ashes of Honda, Ross Brawn managed the impossible and the team still holds the 100% record for winning both world championships. It was the best season because of the euphoric highs at the beginning, the devastating lows when they got brought back to earth and of course the amazing in team rivalry between Button and Barrichello. I was quite annoyed when Mercedes bought them over because I absolutely loved the team and car, and to be perfectly honest I don't feel the same love for Mercedes AMG.

Mercedes

First Entered: 2010
Pole Positions: 1
Race Wins: 1
Points: 521
Constructors Championships: 1
Drivers Championships: 3


The greatest thing about the new look Mercedes was the re-introduction of God himself, Michael Schumacher. Yes, he didn't have the greatest of comebacks, so what? He had nothing to prove to anyone. He came back because he loves the sport. He doesn't care what anyone thinks. He got bored and came back. What a champion.

The current reshuffle of the Mercedes staff is a real pickle but on track they appear to have things sorted after hiring Lewis Hamilton from McLaren. The question is how and when are they going to impact? And where does Ross Brawn go? I would not like to be a Mercedes fan at the minute, you guys have a mountain to climb. Good luck.

Sauber

Welcome back to my one-off blog documenting the past history of the current Formula 1 teams on the grid today!

This weeks instalment includes one of my favourite teams, and probably everybody's favourite underdog! Sauber have always had their name in every title they've ever ran under, the only difference came from engine manufacturers. 

SAUBER

First Entered: 1993
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 0
Points: 195
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0






After his successes in Hillclimbing and other Motorsport activities, Swiss Peter Sauber introduced his own F1 team to the sport in 1993. The team never gathered much success and was better known as a team who employed younger talent in order to grow and nurture them. Jean Alesi and Giancarlo Fisichella were among the older drivers but Sauber did hire future drivers like Nick Heidfeld and Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

Their greatest contribution was far and wide, giving Kimi Raikkonen his F1 debut. He was so impressive that he pipped the more experience Heidfeld to the vacant seat at McLaren, a move that angered Heidfeld. Sorry Nick, but you would never have reached the heights that the Iceman soared.

Sauber also had a brief involvement with Red Bull as a sponsor for a number of years.

BMW SAUBER


First Entered: 2006
Pole Positions: 1
Race Wins: 1
Points: 308
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0








The team entered into an engine deal with BMW and raced as BMW Sauber in 2006, a move that proved to be quite successful in contrast to their previous set up. Heidfeld continued driving with them right the way through with 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve driving for 3/4 of the 2006 season before being replaced by the extremely talented Robert Kubica (get better soon Rab). Sebastian Vettel had a race start after Kubica's horrible accident in Canada in 2007.

For a team with little pace before, BMW Sauber had a 2nd and 3rd place finish in two championship years with Kubica winning the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, a year after the accident (it also happened to be a 1-2 for the team).

In 2009, BMW withdrew their involvement in the sport, ending any possible progression. Peter Sauber repurchased the team, filling in the spot left vacated by Toyota following their withdrawal. The team could have reached amazing heights, but they didn't exactly have a massive decline in form.

SAUBER

Re-Entered: 2010
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 0
Points: 214
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0




Sauber came back and started using Ferrari engines a move which did not bring back their great BMW pace, but they hired veteran Pedro de la Rosa and rookie Kamui Kobayashi in order to make a new beginning. The team conceded 14 DNF's and dropped de la Rosa for former driver Nick Heidfeld who had another DNF on his first race back. Under the new point system the did manage to make a pretty decent haul in points but real strides in performace were not seen until last year when Sergio Perez scored the first podium for Sauber since 2003, a feat he achieved three times. The team totalled four podiums last season with Krazy Kob bagging a third place in Japan.

For 2013, Sauber took Nico Hulkenberg from Force India and GP2 runner Esteban Gutierrez on board to try and build on the current successes. Sauber have also made F1 history by being the first team to have a female boss in the form of Monisha Kaltenborn. 

Sauber C32

Sauber tend to follow up a successful season with a few poor ones. For the sake of Hulkenberg (who is an extremely talented driver) this is proven wrong. Hopefully the team who sacrificed Kobayashi for better funding know the risk they took, and that expectations are extremely high.