Autosport Plus

The manufacturer tie-up that put Sauber on the map

In the first of a series of features this week celebrating 50 years of the much-loved Swiss outfit, we revisit how Sauber's partnership with Mercedes helped the privateer take its next step to becoming a major force in sportscar racing

Gary Watkins Jun 1, 2020, 3:17 PM

If you'd predicted at the start of the 1980s that Sauber would win the Le Mans 24 Hours by the end of the decade, you'd have been laughed right out of the tiny town of Hinwil where the team, now racing as Alfa Romeo in Formula 1, is based to this day.

An operation run out of a British Leyland dealership had yet to make its mark on the international sportscar scene, but it was set on course for victory in the French enduro as much by luck as by judgement.

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Author Gary Watkins

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.