The BMW Sauber F1.07 is a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

single-seater racing car built by

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 ...

for the 2007 Formula One World Championship."BMW Hungry For Seconds", BMW Sauber F1.07 launch article,

Autosport magazine ''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One World Championship. Autosport began life as a weekly magazine in 1950 ...

, 18 January 2007 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 ...

, Walter Reidl,

Jörg Zander Jörg Zander (born 15 February 1964 in Ratingen) is a German Formula One car designer. Zander graduated from Cologne University in 1990 before joining Toyota. After a brief period working in Touring Cars he returned to Toyota to work on the Formu ...

and

Willem Toet Willem Toet (born 29 March 1952) is an Australian Formula One aerodynamicist. He is currently the Senior Sales Manager and Aerodynamics consultant for Sauber Aerodynamics and Alfa Romeo Racing. He was previously the head of aerodynamics for the ...

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 car was the first to have been designed fully by BMW, following their purchase of the former

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 un ...

team. Initial pre-season testing was very positive, with many speculating that BMW could surprise some of the top teams with their performances when the season got underway.

Aerodynamics

The rear wing is mounted by the endplates, rather than the pylon-mounted arrangement used by some rivals' cars (such as the McLaren MP4-22).

Engine and gearbox

The engine's name, P86/7, is indicative of the fact that it is not a new engine, since it is heavily based on the P86 used in the 2006 F1.06 car. This is a requirement of the homologation rules introduced by the FIA. The BMW Sauber team adopted a ''seamless shift'' sequential transmission mechanism, known as ''QuickShift'', for its gearbox.

Livery

BMW Sauber went into the 2007 season with sponsorship continuity; unlike many rival teams, such as McLaren,

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

and

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

, who had to drop their tobacco sponsorship. This meant the 2007 cars had a similar livery to that of the 2006 design with only subtle changes. Image:Nick Heidfeld 2007 Canada.jpg,

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 ...

driving the F1.07 at the

2007 Canadian Grand Prix The 2007 Canadian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2007) was a Formula One motor race held on 10 June 2007 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the sixth race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World C ...

. Image:Robert Kubica 2007 Britain.jpg,

Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing and 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 Sauber F1 team, promoted from test d ...

driving the F1.07 at the

2007 British Grand Prix The 2007 British Grand Prix (formally the 2007 Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix) was the ninth race of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship. It was held on 8 July 2007 at the Silverstone Circuit. The race was won by Kimi Räikkönen ...

. Image:Sebastian Vettel 2007 USA 2.jpg, Sebastian Vettel driving the F1.07 at the

2007 United States Grand Prix The 2007 United States Grand Prix (formally the 2007 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, in the United States on 17 June 2007. The 73-lap race was the s ...

Performance

The car was a significant step up from 's F1.06, scoring 2 podium positions in a season in which 46 of the possible 51 podium positions were occupied by Scuderia Ferrari and McLaren in a dominant season. Both of these were by

– a 2nd at the

and a 3rd at the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix. However, they scored points on 26 out of a possible 34 occasions. They scored points with at least one car in every single race, and points with both cars six races in a row between the French and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Grand Prix.

had 4th places in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, which were his best results. Sebastian Vettel scored points for 8th place in his only appearance for the team, at the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

. Heidfeld was the only driver to frequently break the Ferrari/McLaren deadlock at the front of qualifying, with his best result being 2nd on the grid in Hungary. The BMW Sauber cars qualified in the top 10 in every race apart from Kubica qualifying 14th in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. The car was also involved in one of the biggest crashes of the modern era, Kubica's at the

. He was replaced by future world champion Vettel for one race.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

External links

F1.07 technical detail
– F1Technical.com {{F1 cars 2007 BMW Sauber Formula One cars Sauber F1.07 2007 Formula One season cars