Peter Sauber established his motorsport company in Zurich in 1970, beginning with local Swiss sports car championships. The organisation grew steadily through European competition, eventually securing a partnership with Mercedes-Benz that produced two consecutive World Sportscar Championship titles in 1989 and 1990 and overall victory at the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans. When Group C regulations ended, Sauber transitioned to Formula One in 1993, competing as a private Swiss constructor for over three decades. The team was notable for introducing future champions Kimi Räikkönen and future Ferrari stalwart Felipe Massa to Formula One, and for pioneering technical innovations including high cockpit side walls that later became mandatory.
BMW purchased the team before the 2006 season, renaming it BMW Sauber. The partnership produced the team's greatest results, including a 1-2 finish at the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix — Robert Kubica winning and Nick Heidfeld second — and second place in the 2007 Constructors' Championship. BMW withdrew after 2009 and Peter Sauber reacquired the team for one euro. Operating as a customer Ferrari engine team from 2010 onwards, the organisation went through successive title sponsorship identities: Alfa Romeo Racing from 2019, Alfa Romeo F1 Team from 2022, and Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake in 2023 (with Kick replacing Stake logos in markets where gambling advertising was prohibited).
Sauber officially lost its Alfa Romeo sponsorship ahead of 2024 as the team's transition to the Audi factory programme made the arrangement incompatible. The team entered as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, continuing the Stake and Kick sponsorship deals from the previous season. In markets where gambling advertising was banned, the team competed under the Kick Sauber name exclusively, with Kick logos replacing all Stake branding on the car. The 2024 Kick Sauber C44 was named after the platform.
Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu continued as the driver pairing. The car was consistently uncompetitive and finished outside the points regularly. The team ended the 2024 season tenth in the Constructors' Championship with only four points, their lowest competitive output in years.
For 2025, the team made significant changes on and off the track. Nico Hülkenberg arrived from Haas as a senior driver, and was joined by Gabriel Bortoleto, the reigning Formula 2 Champion, completing the lineup. Leadership changes were also substantial: Alessandro Alunni Bravi departed as team representative, Mattia Binotto assumed temporary oversight as Team Principal, and Jonathan Wheatley — who had departed Red Bull Racing — formally joined from 1 April 2025 as team principal.
The season produced the team's most significant result in years when Hülkenberg finished third at the British Grand Prix to claim his first Formula One podium after 239 race starts, giving Sauber their first podium since the 2012 Japanese Grand Prix.
Plans for a new UK technical centre, to be located at Bicester Motion in Bicester, were announced during the season as part of the broader infrastructure build-out for the Audi era.
Audi AG announced its acquisition of Sauber's team and assets in 2024 with the explicit intention of entering Formula One as a manufacturer from 2026, using Sauber's Hinwil, Switzerland, base as the chassis construction and sporting foundation for the new Audi F1 Team. The acquisition brought the Sauber Motorsport AG name to the end of its active racing history after 55 years.
The Kick Sauber identity, which existed for only two seasons, represented the final chapter of a team that had operated across decades as one of Formula One's most resilient independent constructors. Across its Formula One history, the organisation accumulated results ranging from Peter Sauber's entry on a shoestring budget to BMW's championship challenge and the Alfa Romeo commercial partnerships — a trajectory that closed with Audi's ambition to build one of the sport's new works entries on its foundations.