The BMW Sauber F1.06 (or simply BMW F1.06) was the car with which the

BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s (often under Formula Two regulations), before building th ...

team competed in the 2006 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by German

Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld (born 10 May 1977) is a German professional racing driver. Despite scoring regular podium finishes in with Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams, and in and with BMW in Formula One, BMW Sauber, Heidfeld never won a rac ...

, who joined from Williams, and Canadian

Jacques Villeneuve Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve ( born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian professional racing driver and amateur musician who won the 1997 Formula One World Championship with Williams. In addition to Formula One (F1) he has competed in various ot ...

, who had spent one season with Sauber before it was bought by BMW. However, Villeneuve was replaced by third driver, Pole

Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Poles, Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, rally driver. He was the first and, , the only Polish racing driver to compete in Formula One. Between 2006 and 2009 he drove for the BMW in ...

, before the season finished. The year marked the first time that BMW had competed as a full team; previously it had only supplied engines. The chassis was designed by

Willy Rampf Willy Rampf (born 20 June 1953) is a German car engineer who is currently a technical consultant for Williams Racing and was the former technical director of the Sauber Formula One team. Career Rampf was born in Maria Thalheim, studied Automo ...

, Jacky Eeckelaert and Seamus Mullarkey with the powertrain being designed by

Heinz Paschen The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...

. The 2006 season was treated as very much a transitional year by the team, so the car's level of competitiveness was a pleasant surprise. The F1.06 was a contender for points throughout the season, and its form culminated with two podium finishes: one for Heidfeld at the

Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone wan ...

, and the other for Kubica at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

. BMW Sauber also developed the car throughout the year, with some sort of improvement available at every race. The team's innovation even caused controversy: a "flexible" rear wing was stiffened early in the season and two vertical pylons in front of the cockpit were banned after an appearance at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a Communes of France, commune in the Nièvre Departments of France, department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous Motorsport#Motor racing, motor racing circuit (whose name is of ...

. The team eventually finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship, with 36 points. The F1.06 car is the last

car to be developed by

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it u ...

due to team transition.

Livery

BMW Sauber went into the 2006 season with existing major sponsorship such as

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...

, and

Petronas Petroliam Nasional Berhad (National Petroleum Limited), commonly known as Petronas, is a Malaysian oil and gas company. Established in 1974 and wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with all oil and gas reso ...

. BMW Sauber received new sponsorship such as

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...

and O2, a computer hardware company,

DELL Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...

was started at 2006 European Grand Prix. The team's new livery, which was maintained throughout its tenure in Formula One, consisted of the traditional BMW blue and white with a hint of red. The front nose livery was also similar to

BMW Williams Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams (Formula One), Frank Williams and aut ...

2001–2005 livery but the grey was replaced by red.

Gallery

Image:Nick Heidfeld 2006 Brazil.jpg,

at the

2006 Brazilian Grand Prix The 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2006) was a Formula One motor race held on 22 October 2006 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo. It was the eighteenth and final race of the 2006 FIA Form ...

. Image:Jacques Villeneuve Canada 2006.jpg,

at the

2006 Canadian Grand Prix The 2006 Canadian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2006) was a Formula One motor race held on 25 June 2006 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The 70-lap race was the ninth round of the 20 ...

. Image:Robert Kubica USA 2006.jpg,

at the 2006 United States Grand Prix. Image:Villeneuve Germany2006.jpg, Villeneuve walks away from his crashed F1.06 at the

2006 German Grand Prix The 2006 German Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grosser Mobil 1 Preis von Deutschland 2006) was a Formula One motor race held at the Hockenheimring on 30 July 2006. The 67-lap race was the twelfth round of the 2006 Formula One season and was ...

, his last F1 race.

Complete Formula One results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

External links

{{F1 cars 2006 BMW Sauber Formula One cars Sauber F1.06 2006 Formula One season cars