Sauber Petronas Engineering


Sauber Petronas Engineering AG was a company owned jointly by the Swiss racing car manufacturer Sauber and the Malaysian oil company Petronas. It was founded in 1996 for the purpose of supplying engines to the Sauber Formula One team but at the same time the company began work on the design of production car engines for the Malaysian national car company Proton. The company also helped develop racing motorcycles like Petronas GP1.
Former Honda and Ferrari engineer Osamu Goto was in charge of the Powertrain Division, including the F1 engine program.
The engines were for many years nearly identical to the ones used by Ferrari but were branded Petronas. Sauber licensed nearly every legally licensable part from Ferrari and even had several Ferrari engineers on staff. Many pointed out suspicious similarities between Ferrari and Sauber chassis, but no formal accusations were ever made, even if FIA rules require each team to design their own chassis.
The long-term aim of Sauber Petronas was to design and build its own F1 engines for the 1999 season but the programme was abandoned, choosing instead to continue with the Ferrari units.
In 1998, Petronas commissioned the Powertrain Division of SPE to design their own first commercial automotive engine, the Petronas E01e engine.
After the 2005 season, Sauber was bought by BMW and the co-operation with Ferrari ended.

Formula One engine results

YearEntrantChassisEngineTyresDrivers12345678910111213141516171819PointsWCC
1997Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C16Petronas SPE-01 3.0 V10AUSBRAARGSMRMONESPCANFRAGBRGERHUNBELITAAUTLUXJPNEUR167th
1997Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C16Petronas SPE-01 3.0 V10 Johnny HerbertRet74RetRet558RetRet34Ret8768167th
1997Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C16Petronas SPE-01 3.0 V10 Nicola Larini611Ret7Ret167th
1997Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C16Petronas SPE-01 3.0 V10 Gianni Morbidelli1410Ret91299DNS167th
1997Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C16Petronas SPE-01 3.0 V10 Norberto FontanaRet9914167th
1998Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C17Petronas SPE-01D V10AUSBRAARGSMRESPMONCANFRAGBRAUTGERHUNBELITALUXJPN106th
1998Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C17Petronas SPE-01D V10 Jean AlesiRet9561012Ret7RetRet10735107106th
1998Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C17Petronas SPE-01D V10 Johnny Herbert611RetRet77Ret8Ret8Ret10RetRetRet10106th
1999Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C18Petronas SPE-03A 3.0 V10AUSBRASMRMONESPCANFRAGBRAUTGERHUNBELITAEURMALJPN58th
1999Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C18Petronas SPE-03A 3.0 V10 Jean AlesiRetRet6RetRetRetRet14Ret81699Ret7658th
1999Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C18Petronas SPE-03A 3.0 V10 Pedro DinizRetRetRetRetRet6Ret66RetRetRetRetRetRet1158th
2000Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C19Petronas SPE 04A 3.0 V10AUSBRASMRGBRESPEURMONCANFRAAUTGERHUNBELITAUSAJPNMAL68th
2000Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C19Petronas SPE 04A 3.0 V10 Pedro DinizRetDNS811Ret7Ret10119RetRet118811Ret68th
2000Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C19Petronas SPE 04A 3.0 V10 Mika SaloDSQDNS687Ret5Ret10651097Ret10868th
2001Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C20Petronas 01A 3.0 V10AUSMALBRASMRESPAUTMONCANEURFRAGBRGERHUNBELITAUSAJPN214th
2001Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C20Petronas 01A 3.0 V10 Nick Heidfeld4Ret3769RetRetRet66Ret6Ret1169214th
2001Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C20Petronas 01A 3.0 V10 Kimi Räikkönen6RetRetRet841041075Ret7DNS7RetRet214th
2002Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C21Petronas 02A 3.0 V10AUSMALBRASMRESPAUTMONCANEURGBRFRAGERHUNBELITAUSAJPN115th
2002Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C21Petronas 02A 3.0 V10 Nick HeidfeldRet5Ret104Ret81276769101097115th
2002Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C21Petronas 02A 3.0 V10 Felipe MassaRet6Ret85RetRet969Ret77RetRetRet115th
2002Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C21Petronas 02A 3.0 V1013115th
Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C22Petronas 03A 3.0 V10AUSMALBRASMRESPAUTMONCANEURFRAGBRGERHUNITAUSAJPN196th
Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C22Petronas 03A 3.0 V10 Nick HeidfeldRet8Ret1010Ret11Ret81317109959196th
Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C22Petronas 03A 3.0 V10 Heinz-Harald Frentzen69511RetDNSRetRet91212RetRet133Ret196th
Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C23Petronas 04A 3.0 V10AUSMALBHRSMRESPMONEURCANUSAFRAGBRGERHUNBELITACHNJPNBRA346th
Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C23Petronas 04A 3.0 V10 Giancarlo Fisichella10111197Ret6491269858789346th
Red Bull Sauber PetronasSauber C23Petronas 04A 3.0 V10 Felipe MassaRet81210959RetRet13913Ret412898346th
2005Sauber PetronasSauber C24Petronas 05A 3.0 V10AUSMALBHRSMRESPMONEURCANUSAFRAGBRGERHUNTURITABELBRAJPNCHN208th
2005Sauber PetronasSauber C24Petronas 05A 3.0 V10 Jacques Villeneuve13Ret114Ret11139DNS81415Ret11116121210208th
2005Sauber PetronasSauber C24Petronas 05A 3.0 V10 Felipe Massa1010710119144DNSRet10814Ret91011106208th