Autosport Plus

How Sauber created its greatest legacy

In the latest part of the series celebrating 50 years of the much-loved Swiss outfit, we examine how Sauber's partnership with Mercedes and its famous junior drivers helped produce its greatest legacy in racing

Mercedes had a plan when it announced its motorsport comeback in January 1988. It stretched far beyond its immediate return to the circuits in the World Sports-Prototype Championship and the DTM that season.

Formula 1 was very much in the plan for Mercedes, and it was going to do it with its own team racing Silver Arrows and with German-speaking drivers on its books. Which explains the German manufacturer's junior programme of 1990-91 that introduced Michael Schumacher, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Karl Wendlinger to the wider world.

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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.