For the Sauber team, the 1993 season, their debut in Formula 1, ended quite satisfactorily, especially considering the fact that the cars of Swiss electrician Peter Sauber took to the track without electronic aids and without the official support of a major engine manufacturer. Precisely for this reason, Mercedes-Benz, with whom Sauber had collaborated since 1985 by building the C8, C9, C10, and C11 prototypes used in the World Sportscar Championship and powered by the Stuttgart-based manufacturer, decided to revive the winning partnership in Formula 1 as well, officially supplying their engines to the Swiss team. In 1993, in fact, the Sauber C12s raced with the German Ilmor 2175A V10, rebranded as Sauber LH10. This engine was designed by Mario Ilien with external consultancy from Mercedes-Benz in its development, to the point that the engine cover of the Swiss single-seater bore the inscription “Concept by Mercedes-Benz”. Though the engine remained the same in principle, this year the German V10 was updated in many aspects and renamed Mercedes 2175B, now capable of reaching a power output of 755 hp. The writing on the sides of the car became “Powered by Mercedes-Benz”, a detail that signaled the official return of the Stuttgart brand to Formula 1 for the first time since 1955.
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| SAUBER C13, Heinz-Harald Frentzen Adelaide, Australian GP 1994 |
Even though the previous C12 had turned out to be a fairly decent single-seater, Peter Sauber decided to tackle the new season with an entirely new car, thanks in part to fresh capital from Mercedes and the new sponsor Broker (although only until mid-season), and Tissot for the second half of the championship. With Mercedes-Benz once again fully aligned with the Swiss team, it also contributed to the growth of Sauber’s technical staff, which now included, alongside the veteran designer Leo Rees, a new technical director, André de Cortanze, who arrived from Peugeot-Talbot, with whom he had achieved victories both in rallying and at Le Mans, and the new head of aerodynamics, Heinz Zoellner. The new C13 featured a more rigid chassis, retained the push-rod suspension configuration, and preserved the sleek look of the previous car with a very slim and pointed low nose. The side pods were significantly reduced in size and tapered sharply towards the rear section. Unlike many of its rivals, the C13 did not use front barge boards, but from mid-season introduced special airflow deflectors at the end of the side pods, in front of the rear wheels.
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| SAUBER C13, Karl Wendlinger Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1994 |
For the new season, alongside the confirmed Austrian driver Karl Wendlinger, who came from Mercedes’ development program, Sauber hired the debuting Heinz-Harald Frentzen, a German also from Stuttgart’s academy. Despite high expectations and a promising start to the season, with three points finishes in the first three races, the 1994 championship ended somewhat disappointingly for Sauber, largely due to the serious accident suffered by Wendlinger during qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. Coming out of the tunnel, the Austrian lost control of his car and crashed violently, remaining in a coma for several days. This incident effectively cut short the rising career of the young Wendlinger.
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| SAUBER C13, J.J. Letho Adelaide, Australian GP 1994 |
Following the accident, Sauber became the first team to introduce extended side head protection to safeguard drivers against lateral impacts, an innovation that would become mandatory for all teams starting the following season. Italian driver Andrea de Cesaris was called in to replace the unlucky Austrian but, like Frentzen, was hampered by the C13’s lack of reliability and failed to achieve strong results. In the final two races of the season, he was replaced by the returning Finnish driver J.J. Lehto.
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| SAUBER C13, Andrea de Cesaris Magny-Cours, French GP 1994 |
Thus, Sauber endured a season in the lower-midfield, finishing eighth in the Constructors’ Championship and scoring only 12 points, 11 of which came from Frentzen, with the exception of a sixth place finish by De Cesaris in France, where Frentzen also achieved his best result of the season by finishing fourth.
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