The Sauber C16 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 competed in the

1997 Formula One season The 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It commenced on 9 March and ended on 26 October after seventeen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Jacques Villeneuve and the Constr ...

. It was initially driven by

Johnny Herbert John Paul "Johnny" Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for seven different teams, winning three races and placing 4th in ...

, who was in his second season with the team, and

Nicola Larini Nicola Larini (born 19 March 1964) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 6 September 1987. He finished second in the tragic 1994 San Marino Grand Prix on a substitute outing for Ferrari, but only s ...

. Larini's place in the team was secured via an arrangement that gave the team the previous year's Ferrari customer engines that were used in the F310 that scored three wins in 1996, badged as Petronas in deference to the team's major

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n sponsor. This agreement to use Ferrari engines lasted until the team's purchase by BMW for . However, Larini, Ferrari's test driver, was unhappy with the team's ambience and quit after five Grands Prix.

Gianni Morbidelli Gianni Morbidelli (born 13 January 1968) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 70 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 11 March 1990. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 8.5 championship points. He currently competes in the T ...

was brought in as a replacement, but he broke his arm on two occasions during the year and had to be replaced by rookie

Norberto Fontana Norberto Edgardo Fontana (born 20 January 1975) is an Argentine racing driver. He participated in four Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 29 June 1997 but scoring no championship points. His opportunity to race came as a result of two separate ...

whilst he recovered. All three drivers were comprehensively out-performed by Herbert. Against some expectations, the car was competitive at the beginning of the season, but fell away slightly as the season progressed due to lack of development compared with better-funded rivals. Herbert's impressive season culminated in the team's third-ever podium finish at the

1997 Hungarian Grand Prix The 1997 Hungarian Grand Prix (formally the XIII Marlboro Magyar Nagydij) was a Formula One motor race held at Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Pest, Hungary on 10 August 1997. The race, contested over 77 laps, was the eleventh race of the 1997 Formula O ...

(where he also beat both works Ferraris). He scored all but one of the team's tally of points. The team eventually finished seventh in the Constructors' Championship, with 16 points. Many years later, some photos were leaked showing a top secret test carried out by

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

in the C16 at Ferrari's test track at Fiorano in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The test took place in September 1997 in a de-badged C16.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

References

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AUTOCOURSE ''Autocourse'' is a series of annuals covering motor racing, and Formula One in particular. The annuals cover a long period of the sport's history, from 1951 to the present day, and, as such, are highly collectible. History The first edition o ...

1997-98'', Henry, Alan (ed.), Hazleton Publishing Ltd. (1997) C16 1997 Formula One season cars {{F1-stub