The Sauber C12 was the car with which the

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 ...

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, ...

team made its

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

World Championship debut in 1993. Its design was led by Leo Ress.

Engine

Power was provided by a Sauber-branded 3.5-litre V10 built by

Ilmor Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, M ...

in partnership with Mercedes. The C12 was given the prominence of "Concept by Mercedes-Benz" stickers on the engine cowling due to the two parties' close relationship from their

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...

program. The engines were re-branded in 1994 to reflect the partnership.

Drivers

Karl Wendlinger Karl Wendlinger (born 20 December 1968) is an Austrian professional racing and former Formula One driver. Mercedes Juniors Born in Kufstein, Wendlinger started his career in karting and in Formula Ford before entering the German Formula 3 C ...

was re-united with his former WSC team in preparation for its Grand Prix debut. He already had two seasons of Formula One experience, having made his debut in the

1991 Japanese Grand Prix The 1991 Japanese Grand Prix (formally the XVII Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Suzuka on 20 October 1991. It was the fifteenth round of the 1991 Formula One season. The 53-lap race was won by McLaren dri ...

with Leyton House, while

JJ Lehto Jyrki Juhani Järvilehto (; born 31 January 1966), better known as "JJ Lehto", is a Finnish racing driver. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 1995 and 2005. He is also a former Formula One driver. He was a protégé of Finnish 1982 Formula ...

(Jyrki Järvilehto) had started 38 Grands Prix (not including failures to qualify) between

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

Racing history

Lehto contributed to a promising start with a 5th-place finish in the South African GP at Kyalami and improved on that with a 4th place classification at Imola, home of the San Marino GP, despite an engine problem. The C12 had a somewhat mixed record with a total of 12 DNFs due to mechanical failure, including seven engine failures (not including Imola, where Lehto was classified as a finisher). Driver-related incidents accounted for six more DNFs. The C12 achieved six points finishes and eight non-scoring finishes from 32 starts. It achieved a points total of 12 and 7th place in the Constructors' World Championship standings. It was replaced at the start of the season by the Sauber C13.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

External links

Sauber C12 Photo Gallery

Sauber C12 Technical Data
{{F1 cars 1993 1993 Formula One season cars

C12 C12, C.XII or C-12 may be: * LNER Class C12, a class of British 4-4-2T locomotives * C12 Workmen's Compensation (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 * C-12 ''Huron'', a logistics support aircraft of the U.S. Military (military versions of the Beechcraft ...