Rüdiger 'Gremlin' Gemmrig: Sauber-News-Page

Fri, 19-Dec-1997	The Sauber Team did the last tests before Christmas at Barcelona. Herbert was out on the track under rainy conditions and set the 6th fastest time out of 9 drivers. Jean Alesi had ghis first test in a Sauber. His best lap was slightly faster than Herbert's and he was 5th fastest of all. Both drivers were the only ones equipped with Goodyear tyres. ->Test-times
Tue, 16-Dec-1997	Johnny Herbert did some tests at Barcelona for the Sauber Team under partly wet conditions. He drove the 3rd fastest time out of 6 drivers. ->Test-times
Fri, 05-Dec-1997	Under partly wet conditions Johnny Herbert was 4th fastest in the 1998 prototype. German driver Jörg Müller was given the chance by the Sauber Team to test a 1997 car. He did 13 laps and was faster than Sauber test driver Norberto Fontana who drove 57 laps. Jörg Müller was European F3000 Champion in 1996 and Peter Sauber wants to have a reliable testdriver who could take over the cockpit from either Herbert or Alesi in case one of them had an accident in 1998 and therefore could not compete in a race. So this could be a chance for Müller. ->Test-times
Thu, 04-Dec-1997	More tests were done at Barcelona. Again Villeneuve was fastest in the 1998 prototype. And again Herbert was second and Frentzen third fastest. Times were comparable to yesterday. ->Test-times
Wed, 03-Dec-1997	Today Villeneuve was fastest of all drivers driving a 1998 prototype. Second was Johnny Herbert with more than 3 seconds faster than yesterday and third Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Off course these drivers were faster who drove in 1997 cars. ->Test-times
Tue, 02-Dec-1997	After the test-stop in November the FIA allowed the teams to start with testing for next year. Sauber came with a 1997 car and a 1997 car rebuilt after 1998 specifications and grooved tyres to Barcelona. Sauber testdriver Norberto Fontana tested the 1997 car and was 7th fastest out of seven drivers using a 1997 car. Johnny Herbert tested a 1998 Sauber protoype and was fifth fastest out of seven drivers using a 1998 prototype car. ->Test-times
Sun, 26-Oct-1997	That's it: Villeneuve is world champion. Michael Schumacher tried to ram him in lap 48. But it didn't work. Schumacher went into the gravel trap and Villeneuve could continue. In the end he was 3rd after he let pass Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard. It was a fair play by Villeneuve because he had had a lucky victory in Silverstone when Hakkinen had to retire in the lead. Johnny Herbert who started in 14th position made his way through the field and ended the race at 8th position. So the Sauber Team ended the season on 7th position in the constructors championship with 16 points. If one reminds that there was a problem with the second driver during the season with Johnny Herbert scoring 15 points out of 16 then this is a quite good result for the team. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 25-Oct-1997	The qualifying session for the European GP came not to a promising end for both Sauber drivers. Johnny Herbert was 14th and Norberto Fontana was 18th. Both have chosen the softer Goodyear tyre compound as nearly all Goodyear drivers did. Johnny Herbert now is the only driver in the 1997 season who was never beaten in a qualifying session (and in a race) by his teammate. Even Michael Schumacher was beaten once by Irvine. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 24-Oct-1997	In the Friday practice session for the GP of Europe Johnny Herbert was 16th fastest and his Teammate Norberto Fontana was 20th. Villeneuve was 3rd, M. Schumacher 9th. ->GP Timetable
Thu, 23-Oct-1997	Last week the Williams Team has withdrawn their appeal against the disqualification of Jacques Villeneuve for the Japanese GP. Villeneuve then was disqualified and therefore Johnny Herbert and the Sauber Team gained 1 championship point for the 6th position in the GP result. Norberto Fontana will replace Gianni Morbidelli for the last GP at Jerez because Morbidelli is still injured at his left hand.
Sun, 12-Oct-1997	Again the Sauber Team missed the points. Gianni Morbidelli wasn't able to drive during the GP because he hurt his hand when he had crashed during the qualifying session. So Johnny Herbert drove the only Sauber in the field. After a good start he attacked Alesi in his Benetton. But in the end he was 7th. It's possible that Villeneuve will become disqualified by the FIA commission on Octobre 21st. Then Johnny Herbert will get another championship point. ->GP Timetable
Sun, 28-Sep-1997	What a shame that Johnny Herbert missed the points in the GP of Luxembourg. He had a good start back form position 16 and stayed away from the mess in the first corner. Most of the time he had to fight with other cars because all cars drove similar laptimes. In the end he could set pressure on Panis and Diniz on 6th and 5th position in front of him but he could not overtake them. So he finished the race on 7th position. Morbidelli had to make an extra pitstop, there was a problem but the Sauber crew could fix it. In the end he was 9th. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 27-Sep-1997	It looked promising for Johnny Herbert when he ended up 10th in the second free practice session on Saturday. Teammate Gianni Morbidelli was just 22nd and nearly touched the 107% limit. When the qualifying was over Herbert was 16th and Morbidelli 19th. A desaster for the Sauber Team. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 26-Sep-1997	In the second free practice session for the GP of Luxembourg Herbert was 16th on the grid, Morbidelli only 20th. ->GP Timetable
Sun, 21-Sep-1997	In the warmup session Johnny Herbert was 11th fastest on the track with teammate Gianni Morbidelli even beeing faster. He set the 8th fastest time. Hakkinen was fastest overall. Marques has been disqualified yesterday because his Minardi had too less weight. In the race the Sauber drivers couldn't do anything. He and Morbidelli were in the middle of a bunch of cars and overtaking was impossible because all cars had similar laptimes. Herbert finished the race on 8th Morbidelli on 9th. Villeneuve won. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 20-Sep-1997	In the second free practice session for the Austrian GP at Zeltweg Johnny Herbert was 12th. Gianni Morbidelli was 15th. During the qualifying session Johnny Herbert was 12th and Gianni Morbidelli was 13th. Both were just 0.05 seconds apart. Interesting: Herbert and Morbidelli both had the fastest topspeeds with about 295 km/h on the track. The times were as close as never before: 21 drivers were within 2 seconds, the top 13 were within 1 second. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 19-Sep-1997	First free practice session for the Austrian GP at Zeltweg. Johnny Herbert was 12th with 1.2 seconds away from Heinz-Harald Frentzen's fastest time. Gianni Morbidelli was 15th. ->GP Timetable
Thu, 18-Sep-1997	Information session for the Austrian GP at Zeltweg. Johnny Herbert was 9th with 0.7 seconds away from Damon Hill's fastest time. Gianni Morbidelli was 20th. ->GP Timetable
Mon, 15-Sep-1997	It was confirmed by the Sauber Team that Jean Alesi signed a contract for 1998.
Sun, 14-Sep-1997	It was known that Michael Schumacher drove 84 laps and clocked a fastest time of 1.00.10 at his Sauber test on Friday at Fiorano/Maranello. The results of the test are still unknown but it is said that Peter Sauber especially was interested in Schumacher's opinion about the car's behaviour when running with low fuel. Jean Alesi has signed a provisional contract with Sauber for 1998. It is expected that he will sign the final contract next week.
Fri, 12-Sep-1997	Surprise,surprise: Michael Schumacher tested the Sauber-Petronas at Ferrari's hometrack at Fiorano. Peter Sauber wanted to know what the car is able to do in comparison to the Ferrari and how Schumacher would estimate the Sauber C16. Schumacher was very interested too. Yet results are not known.
Sun, 07-Sep-1997	Johnny Herbert had a good start in the race when he went from 12th position up to tenth. All the race he had to fight against R. Schumacher behind him who had the stronger engine. When R. Schumacher finally passed Herbert on the left side he steered to the right under braking. He did not leave any place to Johnny Herbert and touched the Sauber's left front wheel with his rear wheel. Johnny had a bad crash with about 260 kph and hit the tyrewall backwards. A very unfair action by R. Schumacher who blamed Herbert for the crash. Fortunately Johnny Herbert could walk away unhurt from the wreck of his car. There was only the monococque left. Gianni Morbidelli in the second Sauber ended the race on 12th. ->GP Timetable
Thu, 04-Sep-1997	Today Mika Hakkinen was disqualified by the FIA after the chemical «fingerprint» of the gasoline he used during the qualifying session for the GP of Belgium was not identical with that one the FIA possesses. That moves Johnny Herbert up to 4th position in the result of the GP at Spa-Franchorchamps and gives him and the Sauber Team an extra point in the championship table.
Sun, 24-Aug-1997	An exciting race with a good result for Johnny Herbert with his Sauber. He chose the right tactics and had a good start from his 10th position. In the end he had the 5th position and when Villeneuve tried to close in to get one more championship point Johnny Herbert even could go faster laps than Villeneuve. Herbert drove the second fastest race lap overall and finished on 5th position with 2 more championship points for the Sauber Team. His teammate Gianni Morbidelli finished on 10th position. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 23-Aug-1997	In the qualifying session under dry conditions it first looked quite promising for Johnny Herbert when he was in the top ten for a long time. But in the end he had to be content with 11th position. Teammate Morbidelli had a spin. But he had a good performance relatively to Herbert. Morbidelli was just 0.4 seconds slower than Herbert and went to 13th position on the starting grid. A new rumour occurred. After Hill didn't take the offer of the McLaren Team for 1998 he is linked with the Sauber Team now despite the fact that Peter Sauber quit the negotiations with Hill several weeks ago. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 22-Aug-1997	The Friday practice sessions were held under wet conditions on the circuit at Spa-Francorchamps. Johnny Herbert was on a fine 7th position and Gianni Morbidelli was 16th on the grid. Gerhard Berger was fastest. ->GP Timetable
Sun, 10-Aug-1997	A day with mixed feelings for the Sauber Team. One driver on the podium and one retired. Johnny Herbert drove a tactical race. After a good start he overtook two cars and settled on the 8th position. In the last third of the race he laid on 3rd position and in front of the two Schumacher brothers who hadn't the chance to get him. In the last lap he nearly could snatch Hills second position when his Arrows car suffered a hydraulic pressure failure. But Herbert was happy with his first podium this year and 4 points for the Team. Morbidelli tangled with Magnussen in the third corner of the first lap and had to retire later on. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 09-Aug-1997	In the second free practice session on Saturday Johnny Herbert was 12th and Gianni Morbidelli was 20th. In the qualifying session Herbert reached the 10th starting position for the race on Sunday while Morbidelli was 15th. M. Schumacher took the pole position. The Sauber Team had to pay a 25,000 US-Dollar fine because the FIA made a gasoline examination and the gasoline wasn't identical with the chemical fingerprint. Accidentally there were 15 litres of gasoline used for engine tests mixed with the regular race gasoline. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 08-Aug-1997	Gianni Morbidelli is back. He has fully recovered from his broken arm. Nevertheless he was only 17th fastest of the second free practice session for the Hungarian GP. Johnny Herbert was 10th fastest with about 1.2 seconds behind the fastest time set by M. Schumacher with the new Ferrari-chassis. ->GP Timetable
Sun, 27-Jul-1997	Sudden end for Johnny Herbert in lap 8 of the grand prix. Diniz came from behind and rammed his Arrows into Herbert's Sauber. Norberto Fontana finished the race on 9th. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 25-Jul-1997	In the second free practice session for the German GP at Hockenheim Johnny Herbert came to a respectable 3rd fastest time behind both Schumacher brothers. And his teammate Norberto Fontana came to an excellent 5th fastest time too. The intense testing at Monza pays off for the Sauber Team. ->GP Timetable
Wed, 16-Jul-1997	Johnny Herbert was fastest on the track during today's tests at Monza / Italy. He clocked a fastest time of 1:23.73 leaving Villeneuve 0.13 seconds behind. He drove 75 laps for preparation of the German GP. ->Test-times
Sun, 13-Jul-1997	In the morning warmup session the driver field was a little bit puzzled. Because the track was wet everyone tried to find a good wet setup in case it should rain duringthe race. Johnny Herbert was very strong - 5th fastest on the track. Norberto Fontana was 10th fastest on the track - good show. Damon Hill was fastest - surprisingly. In the race Johnny Herbert had a fantastic start and was 5th after the first lap. He could go the pace behind the both McLaren and he and Hakkinen had been able to go even faster if not Coulthard had held them up both. So Herbert came in for an early stop. But in lap 42 he had to retire due to technical problems. A podium finish would have been possible today. Norberto Fontana became 9th. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 12-Jul-1997	Johnny Herbert came to an 9th starting position in the qualifying session just 0.8 seconds away from Villeneuve's pole. Norberto Fontana seems to get more used to the car. He drove the 14th fastest lap today. Unfortunately the officials let him start from position 22 because he didn't see a red traffic light. Until now it was not clear if this decision is final. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 11-Jul-1997	Second free practice session on Friday for the British GP: Johnny Herbert was surprisingly 4th fastest. Just 0.646 seconds away from the best time set by Mika Hakkinen. Norberto Fontana was 17th fastest. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 04-Jul-1997	At this day Johnny Herbert was 10th fastest but just about 1 second behind Hakkinen's fastest time. The times this year are pretty close together. But test times generally don't show the real performance of a team. ->Test-times
Thu, 03-Jul-1997	On the second day in Silverstone Johnny Herbert was 11th fastest of the day and 1.6 seconds behind Hakkinen's fastest time. Herbert's new teammate Fontana didn't participate in the testing because he has obligations in the japanese Formula 3000 series. ->Test-times
Wed, 02-Jul-1997	The first day of testing at the Silverstone circuit saw Johnny Herbert 4th fastest of all 16 drivers on the track. He was 0.5 seconds away from the fastest time set by Ralf Schumacher in the Jordan. ->Test-times
Sun, 29-Jun-1997	In a wet warmup session Johnny Herbert came to an 14th position while Norberto Fontana was 10th. Eddie Irvine was fastest (with the new Ferrari engine). The problem of the Sauber car is that it is not fitted with an electromechanical differential that gives more mechanical grip to the car. Other Teams like Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, Jordan and Benetton use this feature. With the lack of mechanical grip and starting from 14th position Johnny Herbert couldn't do anything in the race. Another thing was that Herbert had a severe cold and had chosen a wet setup for the race. But the rain came too late. Herbert was on 11th position after the start and when the rain started he was the first to come into the pits for intermediate tyres. This tactical decision let him end in 8th position. Teammate Norberto Fontana had aproblem with the left side of the car and had to retire. It was a mistake to have a one-stop-strategy for Herbert. He would have performed better with two regular stops. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 28-Jun-1997	No promising conditions for the Sauber Team to start the French Grand Prix. Johnny Herbert came to an 14th position in the qualifying session despite he was just 1.4 seconds slower than pole setter Michael Schumacher. Norberto Fontana came to a 20th position. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 27-Jun-1997	Under changing weather conditions the second free practice session on Friday for the French Grand Prix was held at Magny Cours. The times that were driven aren't important because everything was mixed up. Johnny Herbert was 9th fastest while Michael Schumacher was fastest over all. Sauber Team testdriver Norberto Fontana who replaces the injured Gianni Morbidelli was 18th and out of the 107 percent time. Morbidelli had broken his left arm while he crashed during a test session at Magny Cours two weeks ago. ->GP Timetable
Sun, 15-Jun-1997	Johnny Herbert had a good start and gained 2 positions. In the middle of the race he had a good fight with Barrichello and Salo and could overtake them both. After his first and only pitstop he was on 4th position with good chances for the podium but he got a 10 seconds penalty for pitlane speeding. After he came out again he had the 5th position, when the race was finished in lap 56 after the severe accident of Olivier Panis. Fortunately Panis didn't suffer any more serious injury despite of a broken right leg. Villeneuve crashed his car in lap 2 and had to retire. Michael Schumacher won the race. Goodyear will have to do a lot of work because some other drivers had the same problem with the bubbles in the rubber as Frentzen had. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 14-Jun-1997	In the second free practice session Johnny Herbert drove the 8th fastest lap while Gianni Morbidelli again was 13th. During the qualifying the Sauber cars suffered from the same problem as at former qualifying sessions. The reaction of the car was quite different when running with low fuel load. Therefore Johnny Herbert gained the 13th position and Gianni Morbidelli the 18th position. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 13-Jun-1997	Johnny Herbert performed a good show when he finished at 6th position in the second free practice session on Friday at the Montreal circuit. His time was 1:20.867 and he was 0.587 seconds slower than the fastest Heinz-Harald Frentzen. His teammate Gianni Morbidelli drove the 13th fastest lap. ->GP Timetable
Thu, 05-Jun-1997	Another test day at Monza/Italy. Under rainy conditions Johnny Herbert was faster again as Irvine. Herbert's fastest lap was a 1:30.96 (62 laps) Irvine's fastest lap was a 1:41.38 (67 laps). ->Test-times
Wed, 04-Jun-1997	The Sauber Team went for tests to the Monza track in Italy. The Ferrari Team was there also. Johnny Herbert managed to be faster in his Sauber than Irvine in his Ferrari with the new 046/2 engine. Herbert drove a fastest lap of 1:25.59 (81 laps) Irvine drove a 1:26.04 (47 laps). ->Test-times
Sun, 25-May-1997	Johnny Herbert had a promising start of the race when he went up to 7th position. But Gianni Morbidelli had a jump start and got a penalty of 10 seconds for that. After three pitstops Johnny Herbert laid on 6th position with about 11 seconds behind David Coulthard in the McLaren. In the last lap he overtook Coulthard and finished on 5th position. A good result, because he had just a gap of 27 seconds to the winner Jacques Villeneuve. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 24-May-1997	Johnny Herbert did a good job during the second free practice session. He was 5th fastest and 1.235 seconds away from the fastest time set by Frentzen. In the qualifying session again the Sauber Team had problems to get the car faster with less fuel on board. Teams like Jordan, Benetton and even McLaren during the last qualifying sessions have similar problems. Johnny Herbert endet on 10th position with nearly 2 seconds gap to the fastest time set by Villeneuve. Teammate Morbidelli will start tomorrow from 13th position with another 0.7 seconds away from Herbert. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 23-May-1997	During the second free practice session for the GP of Spain Gianni Morbidelli had an accident and destroyed the front of his car. Fortuantely he walked away unhurt.He was 19th fastest of the training session while teammate Johnny Herbert was 8th fastest with a time of 1:21.379. He was 1.8 seconds away from the fastest time which was set by Alesi in the Benetton. ->GP Timetable
Tue, 20-May-1997	It has been confirmed by the Sauber Team that Gianni Morbidelli will replace Nicola Larini as second driver and teammmate of Johnny Herbert. According to Peter Sauber Larini was one of the fastest drivers on track during the first four races but he made to many mistakes during the GP sessions. He will get the test driver job at Ferrari again replacing Morbidelli there.
Fri, 16-May-1997	Surprisingly Gianni Morbidelly took over the Sauber C16 from Herbert for testing. Morbidelly is currently test driver for Ferrari. He was 12th fastest of the day with 1:20.89 doing 84 laps. There is a rumour that he will replace Larini at Sauber. ->Test-times
Thu, 15-May-1997	Another day of testing for the Sauber Team. Herbert was 10th fastest of the day with 1:20.35 doing 63 laps. ->Test-times
Wed, 14-May-1997	The Sauber Team started their pre-race tests at the Barcelona circuit. Johnny Herbert made 85 laps with a best time of 1:20.44 and was seventh fastest of the day. Just 1 second behind the fastest Frentzen. ->Test-times
Sun, 11-May-1997	In the warmup session Herbert drove the seventh fastest lap with 1:22.233 about 0.753 seconds away from the fastest man Hakkinen in the McLaren. Larini drove 20th fastest time of 1:23.958. Probably he will do one pitstop less than his teammate and ran with more fuel. The start of the wet race was quite good for Herbert. He was on 6th position. But after laps he went over a bump, lost all the grip and crashed into a barrier. Larini had five spins during the race. The last one was the final one. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 10-May-1997	Johnny Herbert qualified on a excellent 7th position just 0.889 seconds away from Frentzen's pole time of 1:18.216. Teammate Nicola Larini qualified on 11th position about 1.252 seconds away from pole time. ->GP Timetable
Thu, 08-May-1997	The sensation in the second free practice session for the Monaco GP at Thursday was Johnny Herbert in his Sauber. He drove the fastest lap with 1:21.188 leaving Michael Schumacher on the second position 0.152 seconds behind. Teammate Nicola Larini drove a fastest lap of 1:22.383 and was 14th. ->GP Timetable
Thu, 01-May-1997	On the second day of testing at Barcelona Johnny Herbert drove the second fastest lap of the day with 1:18.84 just 0.43 seconds away from Villeneuve's best laptime of the day. ->Test-times
Wed, 30-Apr-1997	The Sauber Team joined the other teams testing at Barcelona. Johnny Herbert drove 31 laps and was 5th fastest of the day with 1:20.57. ->Test-times
Sun, 27-Apr-1997	Johnny Herbert had to retire after a good start of the race due to technical problems. He was all the time at 5th position until Ralf Schumacher had atechnical problem. Then Herbert was 4th but only for one lap. Nicola Larini finished the race at 7th position after he used the pitlane as emergency exit after an extreme braking manouevre. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 26-Apr-1997	Johnny Herbert reached a fine 7th position with 1:24.723 during the qualifying session. He was about 1.4 seconds slower than Villeneuve in the Williams with 1:23.303 who got the pole position. Larini reached the 12th position on the starting grid with 1:25.544. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 25-Apr-1997	The second free practice session at Imola ended with Johnny Herbert being 11th and Nicola Larini being 10th. Their times were nearly identical. Larini's best time was 1:26.831 and Herbert's time was 1:26.842. Both were about 0.85 seconds away from Eddie Irvine's fastest time of the day of 1:25.981. ->GP Timetable
Thu, 17-Apr-1997	The Sauber Team made tests at the Ferrari home track Fiorano. Both Herbert and Larini came very close to Michael Schumacher's track record. Schumacher's fastest lap there was just 0.3 seconds faster than Herbert's (55.87 secs) and Larini's (55.85 secs).
Sun, 13-Apr-1997	Johnny Herbert had a bad start of the race due to the mess at the first corner. But soon he overtook Hill and Ralf Schumacher. In the middle of the race he could go the pace of Villeneuve in the Williams. Unfortunately both Sauber drivers started on softer tyres and had to stop twice for fresh sets. After 16 laps the soft tyres were worn out. Larini had a bad pitstop when the fuel hose didn't fit in the connector. Later he had a software problem with the gearbox but a team mechanic could fix it. Some laps later he hit Magnussen when the Danish driver suddenly spun off. Larini had to retire. Johnny Herbert scored 3 points for the team as he finished on 4th position. Besides: Larini drove the 4th fastest racelap overall. This lap was just 78 thousands of a second slower than the fastest lap of Ralf Schumacher in the Jordan. ->GP Timetable
Sun, 13-Apr-1997	Johnny Herbert had a bad start of the race due to the mess at the first corner. But soon he overtook Hill and Ralf Schumacher. In the middle of the race he could go the pace of Villeneuve in the Williams. Unfortunately both Sauber drivers started on softer tyres and had to stop twice for fresh sets. After 16 laps the soft tyres were worn out. Larini had a bad pitstop when the fuel hose didn't fit in the connector. Later he had a software problem with the gearbox but a team mechanic could fix it. Some laps later he hit Magnussen when the Danish driver suddenly spun off. Larini had to retire. Johnny Herbert scored 3 points for the team as he finished on 4th position. Besides: Larini drove the 4th fastest racelap overall. This lap was just 78 thousands of a second slower than the fastest lap of Ralf Schumacher in the Jordan. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 12-Apr-1997	Johnny Herbert qualified in his Sauber C16 for a good 8th position on the grid. His time of 1:26.564 was about 2 seconds slower than Villeneuve's pole position time of 1:24.473. Nicola Larini qualified on 14th position with 1:27.690 just behind Damon Hill. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 11-Apr-1997	During the free practice sessions on Friday at Buenos Aires Johnny Herbert drove the 8th fastest lap with 1:27.702 while teammate Nicola Larini drove the 14th fastest lap with 1:29.153. Herbert was about 2 seconds slower than the fastest driver Villeneuve. ->GP Timetable
Sun, 30-Mar-1997	The race was started twice. At the first start Magnussen's Stewart didn't leave the grid. In the first corner Villeneuve made a mistake and went through the gravel bed. Johnny Herbert had not a good start and was rammed by Irvine once again. At the restart he had to use the spare car. He finished the race at 7th position while teammate Larini finished on 11th. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 29-Mar-1997	In the free practice on Saturday Herbert lost some time on the circuit. With 1:17.587 he was faster than on Friday but he was only 12th fastest. His teammate Nicola Larini was 15th fastest. In the qualifying session Herbert was only 13th fastest with 1:17.409. The times were very narrow. Herbert had only 1.6 seconds difference to Villeneuve's pole position time. Larini was only 19th fastest with 1:18.773. He had a spin and hung on the cerbstones until he was pushed onto the track by the track marshals. On TV you could see that he parked the car in the pitlane. Perhaps he wasn't allowed to use the car further because he had help after the spin. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 28-Mar-1997	Good effort from Johnny Herbert in the Sauber. In the first free practice on friday at the Brazilian GP he was second fastest behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen. In the second free practice he was fourth fastest with 1:18.261. Larini was 20th fastest overall due to an accident in the morning. He didn't participate at the afternoon session. ->GP Timetable
Sun, 09-Mar-1997	In the morning warmup session Johnny Herbert went out to drive the 3rd fastest lap. Only Villeneuve and Frentzen were faster than him. After the begin of the race Johnny Herbert had a tremendous good start. He had the second position together with Villeneuve and started to overtake him in the first corner when 'Crazy Eddie' (Irvine) rammed Villeneuve's car into Herbert's Sauber and pushed them both into the gravel bed. This was the second time out of two times that Johnny Herbert couldn't race at Melbourne. Irvine was to blame for that accident but he got no penalty after the race. Most people wondered about the direction Irvine's car had in the first corner. It pointed directly into the gravel bed and if there had been no cars he wouldn't have made it through the corner with that angle neither. So there was only Nicola Larini left to score the season's first point for the Sauber Team when he finished sixth. ->GP Timetable
Sat, 08-Mar-1997	In the qualifying session Johnny Herbert qualified on 7th position with 1:32.287 about three seconds behind Villeneuves time. His team mate Nicola Larini reached only 15th position due to an accident when Gerhard Berger crashed into his car. ->GP Timetable
Fri, 07-Mar-1997	During the free practice session of the GP of Melbourne Johnny Herbert drove the 9th fastest time with 1:34.593. Nicola Larini in the second Sauber drove the 15th fastest time. ->GP Timetable
Sun, 23-Feb-1997	Nicola Larini tested the C16 again. He drove 74 laps at Barcelona and set a fastest lap of 1:19.90. He simulated a grand prix. ->Test-times
Sat, 22-Feb-1997	Johnny Herbert flew around the circuit in his Sauber C16. He set a remarkable 1:18.64 with a new Goodyear tyre compound. ->Test-times
Fri, 21-Feb-1997	Nicola Larini had the opportunity to test the C16 at Barcelona. He had a fastest lap of 1:24.37. ->Test-times
Thu, 20-Feb-1997	Johnny Herbert found further improvements of the car setup and set a fastest lap of 1:19.79, half a second faster than the day before. ->Test-times
Wed, 19-Feb-1997	At the first day of the test sessions for Sauber in Barcelona Johnny Herbert did a excellent third fastest laptime of 1:20.25 behind Coulthard (1:19.39) and Hakkinen (1:19.65) in the McLaren. The times were faster than Damon Hill's fastest laptime 1996 of 1:20.65. ->Test-times
Fri, 14-Feb-1997	Today Nicola Larini did first tests with the C16 at Fiorano. His fastest time was 1:01,7. He knows the track better than Johnny Herbert, because he did many tests for Ferrari here. The Sauber Team will continue testing at Barcelona from 19th to 23rd February. ->Test-times
Wed, 12-Feb-1997	Johnny Herbert tested the new Sauber C16 again at the Fiorano circuit the home track of Ferrari. He drove 25 laps and clocked a best time of 1:02.40. He was 2.5 seconds away from Eddie Irvines previous best lap of 0:59.78. The car had some problems with the gearbox. The car was presented at Monday on the Sauber Homepage. Only journalists knew about that and had access.Today the car is presented to the rest of the world at the official Sauber Homepage. By the way: the Sauber Homepage got a new design. ->Test-times
Tue, 11-Feb-1997	The new Sauber C16 with the Petronas V10 is out! Johnny Herbert did a first test of all functions at the Fiorano circuit/Italy. He drove 25 laps with a best time of 1:02.83. The building schedule of the car was faster than most people expected --> definitely good news. ->Test-times
Wed, 05-Feb-1997	Peter Sauber admitted in an interview that the new car could not be ready just before the first Grand Prix at Melbourne. He hopes that the team could do a shakedown with two cars at Maranello circuit. Johnny Herbert and Nicola Larini will not have sufficient tests with the Petronas V10 engine. The new C16 is expected to look similar to the C15. Sauber will unveil the new car live in the internet. Rumours say that this will be on February 10th.

Fri, 19-Dec-1997

The Sauber Team did the last tests before Christmas at Barcelona. Herbert was out on the track under rainy conditions and set the 6th fastest time out of 9 drivers. Jean Alesi had ghis first test in a Sauber. His best lap was slightly faster than Herbert's and he was 5th fastest of all. Both drivers were the only ones equipped with Goodyear tyres. ->Test-times

Tue, 16-Dec-1997

Johnny Herbert did some tests at Barcelona for the Sauber Team under partly wet conditions. He drove the 3rd fastest time out of 6 drivers. ->Test-times

Fri, 05-Dec-1997

Under partly wet conditions Johnny Herbert was 4th fastest in the 1998 prototype. German driver Jörg Müller was given the chance by the Sauber Team to test a 1997 car. He did 13 laps and was faster than Sauber test driver Norberto Fontana who drove 57 laps. Jörg Müller was European F3000 Champion in 1996 and Peter Sauber wants to have a reliable testdriver who could take over the cockpit from either Herbert or Alesi in case one of them had an accident in 1998 and therefore could not compete in a race. So this could be a chance for Müller. ->Test-times

Thu, 04-Dec-1997

More tests were done at Barcelona. Again Villeneuve was fastest in the 1998 prototype. And again Herbert was second and Frentzen third fastest. Times were comparable to yesterday. ->Test-times

Wed, 03-Dec-1997

Today Villeneuve was fastest of all drivers driving a 1998 prototype. Second was Johnny Herbert with more than 3 seconds faster than yesterday and third Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Off course these drivers were faster who drove in 1997 cars. ->Test-times

Tue, 02-Dec-1997

After the test-stop in November the FIA allowed the teams to start with testing for next year. Sauber came with a 1997 car and a 1997 car rebuilt after 1998 specifications and grooved tyres to Barcelona. Sauber testdriver Norberto Fontana tested the 1997 car and was 7th fastest out of seven drivers using a 1997 car. Johnny Herbert tested a 1998 Sauber protoype and was fifth fastest out of seven drivers using a 1998 prototype car. ->Test-times

Sun, 26-Oct-1997

That's it: Villeneuve is world champion. Michael Schumacher tried to ram him in lap 48. But it didn't work. Schumacher went into the gravel trap and Villeneuve could continue. In the end he was 3rd after he let pass Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard. It was a fair play by Villeneuve because he had had a lucky victory in Silverstone when Hakkinen had to retire in the lead. Johnny Herbert who started in 14th position made his way through the field and ended the race at 8th position. So the Sauber Team ended the season on 7th position in the constructors championship with 16 points. If one reminds that there was a problem with the second driver during the season with Johnny Herbert scoring 15 points out of 16 then this is a quite good result for the team. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 25-Oct-1997

The qualifying session for the European GP came not to a promising end for both Sauber drivers. Johnny Herbert was 14th and Norberto Fontana was 18th. Both have chosen the softer Goodyear tyre compound as nearly all Goodyear drivers did. Johnny Herbert now is the only driver in the 1997 season who was never beaten in a qualifying session (and in a race) by his teammate. Even Michael Schumacher was beaten once by Irvine. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 24-Oct-1997

In the Friday practice session for the GP of Europe Johnny Herbert was 16th fastest and his Teammate Norberto Fontana was 20th. Villeneuve was 3rd, M. Schumacher 9th. ->GP Timetable

Thu, 23-Oct-1997

Last week the Williams Team has withdrawn their appeal against the disqualification of Jacques Villeneuve for the Japanese GP. Villeneuve then was disqualified and therefore Johnny Herbert and the Sauber Team gained 1 championship point for the 6th position in the GP result. Norberto Fontana will replace Gianni Morbidelli for the last GP at Jerez because Morbidelli is still injured at his left hand.

Sun, 12-Oct-1997

Again the Sauber Team missed the points. Gianni Morbidelli wasn't able to drive during the GP because he hurt his hand when he had crashed during the qualifying session. So Johnny Herbert drove the only Sauber in the field. After a good start he attacked Alesi in his Benetton. But in the end he was 7th. It's possible that Villeneuve will become disqualified by the FIA commission on Octobre 21st. Then Johnny Herbert will get another championship point. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 28-Sep-1997

What a shame that Johnny Herbert missed the points in the GP of Luxembourg. He had a good start back form position 16 and stayed away from the mess in the first corner. Most of the time he had to fight with other cars because all cars drove similar laptimes. In the end he could set pressure on Panis and Diniz on 6th and 5th position in front of him but he could not overtake them. So he finished the race on 7th position. Morbidelli had to make an extra pitstop, there was a problem but the Sauber crew could fix it. In the end he was 9th. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 27-Sep-1997

It looked promising for Johnny Herbert when he ended up 10th in the second free practice session on Saturday. Teammate Gianni Morbidelli was just 22nd and nearly touched the 107% limit. When the qualifying was over Herbert was 16th and Morbidelli 19th. A desaster for the Sauber Team. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 26-Sep-1997

In the second free practice session for the GP of Luxembourg Herbert was 16th on the grid, Morbidelli only 20th. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 21-Sep-1997

In the warmup session Johnny Herbert was 11th fastest on the track with teammate Gianni Morbidelli even beeing faster. He set the 8th fastest time. Hakkinen was fastest overall. Marques has been disqualified yesterday because his Minardi had too less weight. In the race the Sauber drivers couldn't do anything. He and Morbidelli were in the middle of a bunch of cars and overtaking was impossible because all cars had similar laptimes. Herbert finished the race on 8th Morbidelli on 9th. Villeneuve won. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 20-Sep-1997

In the second free practice session for the Austrian GP at Zeltweg Johnny Herbert was 12th. Gianni Morbidelli was 15th. During the qualifying session Johnny Herbert was 12th and Gianni Morbidelli was 13th. Both were just 0.05 seconds apart. Interesting: Herbert and Morbidelli both had the fastest topspeeds with about 295 km/h on the track. The times were as close as never before: 21 drivers were within 2 seconds, the top 13 were within 1 second. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 19-Sep-1997

First free practice session for the Austrian GP at Zeltweg. Johnny Herbert was 12th with 1.2 seconds away from Heinz-Harald Frentzen's fastest time. Gianni Morbidelli was 15th. ->GP Timetable

Thu, 18-Sep-1997

Information session for the Austrian GP at Zeltweg. Johnny Herbert was 9th with 0.7 seconds away from Damon Hill's fastest time. Gianni Morbidelli was 20th. ->GP Timetable

Mon, 15-Sep-1997

It was confirmed by the Sauber Team that Jean Alesi signed a contract for 1998.

Sun, 14-Sep-1997

It was known that Michael Schumacher drove 84 laps and clocked a fastest time of 1.00.10 at his Sauber test on Friday at Fiorano/Maranello. The results of the test are still unknown but it is said that Peter Sauber especially was interested in Schumacher's opinion about the car's behaviour when running with low fuel. Jean Alesi has signed a provisional contract with Sauber for 1998. It is expected that he will sign the final contract next week.

Fri, 12-Sep-1997

Surprise,surprise: Michael Schumacher tested the Sauber-Petronas at Ferrari's hometrack at Fiorano. Peter Sauber wanted to know what the car is able to do in comparison to the Ferrari and how Schumacher would estimate the Sauber C16. Schumacher was very interested too. Yet results are not known.

Sun, 07-Sep-1997

Johnny Herbert had a good start in the race when he went from 12th position up to tenth. All the race he had to fight against R. Schumacher behind him who had the stronger engine. When R. Schumacher finally passed Herbert on the left side he steered to the right under braking. He did not leave any place to Johnny Herbert and touched the Sauber's left front wheel with his rear wheel. Johnny had a bad crash with about 260 kph and hit the tyrewall backwards. A very unfair action by R. Schumacher who blamed Herbert for the crash. Fortunately Johnny Herbert could walk away unhurt from the wreck of his car. There was only the monococque left. Gianni Morbidelli in the second Sauber ended the race on 12th. ->GP Timetable

Thu, 04-Sep-1997

Today Mika Hakkinen was disqualified by the FIA after the chemical «fingerprint» of the gasoline he used during the qualifying session for the GP of Belgium was not identical with that one the FIA possesses. That moves Johnny Herbert up to 4th position in the result of the GP at Spa-Franchorchamps and gives him and the Sauber Team an extra point in the championship table.

Sun, 24-Aug-1997

An exciting race with a good result for Johnny Herbert with his Sauber. He chose the right tactics and had a good start from his 10th position. In the end he had the 5th position and when Villeneuve tried to close in to get one more championship point Johnny Herbert even could go faster laps than Villeneuve. Herbert drove the second fastest race lap overall and finished on 5th position with 2 more championship points for the Sauber Team. His teammate Gianni Morbidelli finished on 10th position. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 23-Aug-1997

In the qualifying session under dry conditions it first looked quite promising for Johnny Herbert when he was in the top ten for a long time. But in the end he had to be content with 11th position. Teammate Morbidelli had a spin. But he had a good performance relatively to Herbert. Morbidelli was just 0.4 seconds slower than Herbert and went to 13th position on the starting grid. A new rumour occurred. After Hill didn't take the offer of the McLaren Team for 1998 he is linked with the Sauber Team now despite the fact that Peter Sauber quit the negotiations with Hill several weeks ago. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 22-Aug-1997

The Friday practice sessions were held under wet conditions on the circuit at Spa-Francorchamps. Johnny Herbert was on a fine 7th position and Gianni Morbidelli was 16th on the grid. Gerhard Berger was fastest. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 10-Aug-1997

A day with mixed feelings for the Sauber Team. One driver on the podium and one retired. Johnny Herbert drove a tactical race. After a good start he overtook two cars and settled on the 8th position. In the last third of the race he laid on 3rd position and in front of the two Schumacher brothers who hadn't the chance to get him. In the last lap he nearly could snatch Hills second position when his Arrows car suffered a hydraulic pressure failure. But Herbert was happy with his first podium this year and 4 points for the Team. Morbidelli tangled with Magnussen in the third corner of the first lap and had to retire later on. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 09-Aug-1997

In the second free practice session on Saturday Johnny Herbert was 12th and Gianni Morbidelli was 20th. In the qualifying session Herbert reached the 10th starting position for the race on Sunday while Morbidelli was 15th. M. Schumacher took the pole position. The Sauber Team had to pay a 25,000 US-Dollar fine because the FIA made a gasoline examination and the gasoline wasn't identical with the chemical fingerprint. Accidentally there were 15 litres of gasoline used for engine tests mixed with the regular race gasoline. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 08-Aug-1997

Gianni Morbidelli is back. He has fully recovered from his broken arm. Nevertheless he was only 17th fastest of the second free practice session for the Hungarian GP. Johnny Herbert was 10th fastest with about 1.2 seconds behind the fastest time set by M. Schumacher with the new Ferrari-chassis. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 27-Jul-1997

Sudden end for Johnny Herbert in lap 8 of the grand prix. Diniz came from behind and rammed his Arrows into Herbert's Sauber. Norberto Fontana finished the race on 9th. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 25-Jul-1997

In the second free practice session for the German GP at Hockenheim Johnny Herbert came to a respectable 3rd fastest time behind both Schumacher brothers. And his teammate Norberto Fontana came to an excellent 5th fastest time too. The intense testing at Monza pays off for the Sauber Team. ->GP Timetable

Wed, 16-Jul-1997

Johnny Herbert was fastest on the track during today's tests at Monza / Italy. He clocked a fastest time of 1:23.73 leaving Villeneuve 0.13 seconds behind. He drove 75 laps for preparation of the German GP. ->Test-times

Sun, 13-Jul-1997

In the morning warmup session the driver field was a little bit puzzled. Because the track was wet everyone tried to find a good wet setup in case it should rain duringthe race. Johnny Herbert was very strong - 5th fastest on the track. Norberto Fontana was 10th fastest on the track - good show. Damon Hill was fastest - surprisingly. In the race Johnny Herbert had a fantastic start and was 5th after the first lap. He could go the pace behind the both McLaren and he and Hakkinen had been able to go even faster if not Coulthard had held them up both. So Herbert came in for an early stop. But in lap 42 he had to retire due to technical problems. A podium finish would have been possible today. Norberto Fontana became 9th. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 12-Jul-1997

Johnny Herbert came to an 9th starting position in the qualifying session just 0.8 seconds away from Villeneuve's pole. Norberto Fontana seems to get more used to the car. He drove the 14th fastest lap today. Unfortunately the officials let him start from position 22 because he didn't see a red traffic light. Until now it was not clear if this decision is final. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 11-Jul-1997

Second free practice session on Friday for the British GP: Johnny Herbert was surprisingly 4th fastest. Just 0.646 seconds away from the best time set by Mika Hakkinen. Norberto Fontana was 17th fastest. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 04-Jul-1997

At this day Johnny Herbert was 10th fastest but just about 1 second behind Hakkinen's fastest time. The times this year are pretty close together. But test times generally don't show the real performance of a team. ->Test-times

Thu, 03-Jul-1997

On the second day in Silverstone Johnny Herbert was 11th fastest of the day and 1.6 seconds behind Hakkinen's fastest time. Herbert's new teammate Fontana didn't participate in the testing because he has obligations in the japanese Formula 3000 series. ->Test-times

Wed, 02-Jul-1997

The first day of testing at the Silverstone circuit saw Johnny Herbert 4th fastest of all 16 drivers on the track. He was 0.5 seconds away from the fastest time set by Ralf Schumacher in the Jordan. ->Test-times

Sun, 29-Jun-1997

In a wet warmup session Johnny Herbert came to an 14th position while Norberto Fontana was 10th. Eddie Irvine was fastest (with the new Ferrari engine). The problem of the Sauber car is that it is not fitted with an electromechanical differential that gives more mechanical grip to the car. Other Teams like Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, Jordan and Benetton use this feature. With the lack of mechanical grip and starting from 14th position Johnny Herbert couldn't do anything in the race. Another thing was that Herbert had a severe cold and had chosen a wet setup for the race. But the rain came too late. Herbert was on 11th position after the start and when the rain started he was the first to come into the pits for intermediate tyres. This tactical decision let him end in 8th position. Teammate Norberto Fontana had aproblem with the left side of the car and had to retire. It was a mistake to have a one-stop-strategy for Herbert. He would have performed better with two regular stops. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 28-Jun-1997

No promising conditions for the Sauber Team to start the French Grand Prix. Johnny Herbert came to an 14th position in the qualifying session despite he was just 1.4 seconds slower than pole setter Michael Schumacher. Norberto Fontana came to a 20th position. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 27-Jun-1997

Under changing weather conditions the second free practice session on Friday for the French Grand Prix was held at Magny Cours. The times that were driven aren't important because everything was mixed up. Johnny Herbert was 9th fastest while Michael Schumacher was fastest over all. Sauber Team testdriver Norberto Fontana who replaces the injured Gianni Morbidelli was 18th and out of the 107 percent time. Morbidelli had broken his left arm while he crashed during a test session at Magny Cours two weeks ago. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 15-Jun-1997

Johnny Herbert had a good start and gained 2 positions. In the middle of the race he had a good fight with Barrichello and Salo and could overtake them both. After his first and only pitstop he was on 4th position with good chances for the podium but he got a 10 seconds penalty for pitlane speeding. After he came out again he had the 5th position, when the race was finished in lap 56 after the severe accident of Olivier Panis. Fortunately Panis didn't suffer any more serious injury despite of a broken right leg. Villeneuve crashed his car in lap 2 and had to retire. Michael Schumacher won the race. Goodyear will have to do a lot of work because some other drivers had the same problem with the bubbles in the rubber as Frentzen had. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 14-Jun-1997

In the second free practice session Johnny Herbert drove the 8th fastest lap while Gianni Morbidelli again was 13th. During the qualifying the Sauber cars suffered from the same problem as at former qualifying sessions. The reaction of the car was quite different when running with low fuel load. Therefore Johnny Herbert gained the 13th position and Gianni Morbidelli the 18th position. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 13-Jun-1997

Johnny Herbert performed a good show when he finished at 6th position in the second free practice session on Friday at the Montreal circuit. His time was 1:20.867 and he was 0.587 seconds slower than the fastest Heinz-Harald Frentzen. His teammate Gianni Morbidelli drove the 13th fastest lap. ->GP Timetable

Thu, 05-Jun-1997

Another test day at Monza/Italy. Under rainy conditions Johnny Herbert was faster again as Irvine. Herbert's fastest lap was a 1:30.96 (62 laps) Irvine's fastest lap was a 1:41.38 (67 laps). ->Test-times

Wed, 04-Jun-1997

The Sauber Team went for tests to the Monza track in Italy. The Ferrari Team was there also. Johnny Herbert managed to be faster in his Sauber than Irvine in his Ferrari with the new 046/2 engine. Herbert drove a fastest lap of 1:25.59 (81 laps) Irvine drove a 1:26.04 (47 laps). ->Test-times

Sun, 25-May-1997

Johnny Herbert had a promising start of the race when he went up to 7th position. But Gianni Morbidelli had a jump start and got a penalty of 10 seconds for that. After three pitstops Johnny Herbert laid on 6th position with about 11 seconds behind David Coulthard in the McLaren. In the last lap he overtook Coulthard and finished on 5th position. A good result, because he had just a gap of 27 seconds to the winner Jacques Villeneuve. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 24-May-1997

Johnny Herbert did a good job during the second free practice session. He was 5th fastest and 1.235 seconds away from the fastest time set by Frentzen. In the qualifying session again the Sauber Team had problems to get the car faster with less fuel on board. Teams like Jordan, Benetton and even McLaren during the last qualifying sessions have similar problems. Johnny Herbert endet on 10th position with nearly 2 seconds gap to the fastest time set by Villeneuve. Teammate Morbidelli will start tomorrow from 13th position with another 0.7 seconds away from Herbert. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 23-May-1997

During the second free practice session for the GP of Spain Gianni Morbidelli had an accident and destroyed the front of his car. Fortuantely he walked away unhurt.He was 19th fastest of the training session while teammate Johnny Herbert was 8th fastest with a time of 1:21.379. He was 1.8 seconds away from the fastest time which was set by Alesi in the Benetton. ->GP Timetable

Tue, 20-May-1997

It has been confirmed by the Sauber Team that Gianni Morbidelli will replace Nicola Larini as second driver and teammmate of Johnny Herbert. According to Peter Sauber Larini was one of the fastest drivers on track during the first four races but he made to many mistakes during the GP sessions. He will get the test driver job at Ferrari again replacing Morbidelli there.

Fri, 16-May-1997

Surprisingly Gianni Morbidelly took over the Sauber C16 from Herbert for testing. Morbidelly is currently test driver for Ferrari. He was 12th fastest of the day with 1:20.89 doing 84 laps. There is a rumour that he will replace Larini at Sauber. ->Test-times

Thu, 15-May-1997

Another day of testing for the Sauber Team. Herbert was 10th fastest of the day with 1:20.35 doing 63 laps. ->Test-times

Wed, 14-May-1997

The Sauber Team started their pre-race tests at the Barcelona circuit. Johnny Herbert made 85 laps with a best time of 1:20.44 and was seventh fastest of the day. Just 1 second behind the fastest Frentzen. ->Test-times

Sun, 11-May-1997

In the warmup session Herbert drove the seventh fastest lap with 1:22.233 about 0.753 seconds away from the fastest man Hakkinen in the McLaren. Larini drove 20th fastest time of 1:23.958. Probably he will do one pitstop less than his teammate and ran with more fuel. The start of the wet race was quite good for Herbert. He was on 6th position. But after laps he went over a bump, lost all the grip and crashed into a barrier. Larini had five spins during the race. The last one was the final one. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 10-May-1997

Johnny Herbert qualified on a excellent 7th position just 0.889 seconds away from Frentzen's pole time of 1:18.216. Teammate Nicola Larini qualified on 11th position about 1.252 seconds away from pole time. ->GP Timetable

Thu, 08-May-1997

The sensation in the second free practice session for the Monaco GP at Thursday was Johnny Herbert in his Sauber. He drove the fastest lap with 1:21.188 leaving Michael Schumacher on the second position 0.152 seconds behind. Teammate Nicola Larini drove a fastest lap of 1:22.383 and was 14th. ->GP Timetable

Thu, 01-May-1997

On the second day of testing at Barcelona Johnny Herbert drove the second fastest lap of the day with 1:18.84 just 0.43 seconds away from Villeneuve's best laptime of the day. ->Test-times

Wed, 30-Apr-1997

The Sauber Team joined the other teams testing at Barcelona. Johnny Herbert drove 31 laps and was 5th fastest of the day with 1:20.57. ->Test-times

Sun, 27-Apr-1997

Johnny Herbert had to retire after a good start of the race due to technical problems. He was all the time at 5th position until Ralf Schumacher had atechnical problem. Then Herbert was 4th but only for one lap. Nicola Larini finished the race at 7th position after he used the pitlane as emergency exit after an extreme braking manouevre. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 26-Apr-1997

Johnny Herbert reached a fine 7th position with 1:24.723 during the qualifying session. He was about 1.4 seconds slower than Villeneuve in the Williams with 1:23.303 who got the pole position. Larini reached the 12th position on the starting grid with 1:25.544. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 25-Apr-1997

The second free practice session at Imola ended with Johnny Herbert being 11th and Nicola Larini being 10th. Their times were nearly identical. Larini's best time was 1:26.831 and Herbert's time was 1:26.842. Both were about 0.85 seconds away from Eddie Irvine's fastest time of the day of 1:25.981. ->GP Timetable

Thu, 17-Apr-1997

The Sauber Team made tests at the Ferrari home track Fiorano. Both Herbert and Larini came very close to Michael Schumacher's track record. Schumacher's fastest lap there was just 0.3 seconds faster than Herbert's (55.87 secs) and Larini's (55.85 secs).

Sun, 13-Apr-1997

Johnny Herbert had a bad start of the race due to the mess at the first corner. But soon he overtook Hill and Ralf Schumacher. In the middle of the race he could go the pace of Villeneuve in the Williams. Unfortunately both Sauber drivers started on softer tyres and had to stop twice for fresh sets. After 16 laps the soft tyres were worn out. Larini had a bad pitstop when the fuel hose didn't fit in the connector. Later he had a software problem with the gearbox but a team mechanic could fix it. Some laps later he hit Magnussen when the Danish driver suddenly spun off. Larini had to retire. Johnny Herbert scored 3 points for the team as he finished on 4th position. Besides: Larini drove the 4th fastest racelap overall. This lap was just 78 thousands of a second slower than the fastest lap of Ralf Schumacher in the Jordan. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 13-Apr-1997

Johnny Herbert had a bad start of the race due to the mess at the first corner. But soon he overtook Hill and Ralf Schumacher. In the middle of the race he could go the pace of Villeneuve in the Williams. Unfortunately both Sauber drivers started on softer tyres and had to stop twice for fresh sets. After 16 laps the soft tyres were worn out. Larini had a bad pitstop when the fuel hose didn't fit in the connector. Later he had a software problem with the gearbox but a team mechanic could fix it. Some laps later he hit Magnussen when the Danish driver suddenly spun off. Larini had to retire. Johnny Herbert scored 3 points for the team as he finished on 4th position. Besides: Larini drove the 4th fastest racelap overall. This lap was just 78 thousands of a second slower than the fastest lap of Ralf Schumacher in the Jordan. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 12-Apr-1997

Johnny Herbert qualified in his Sauber C16 for a good 8th position on the grid. His time of 1:26.564 was about 2 seconds slower than Villeneuve's pole position time of 1:24.473. Nicola Larini qualified on 14th position with 1:27.690 just behind Damon Hill. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 11-Apr-1997

During the free practice sessions on Friday at Buenos Aires Johnny Herbert drove the 8th fastest lap with 1:27.702 while teammate Nicola Larini drove the 14th fastest lap with 1:29.153. Herbert was about 2 seconds slower than the fastest driver Villeneuve. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 30-Mar-1997

The race was started twice. At the first start Magnussen's Stewart didn't leave the grid. In the first corner Villeneuve made a mistake and went through the gravel bed. Johnny Herbert had not a good start and was rammed by Irvine once again. At the restart he had to use the spare car. He finished the race at 7th position while teammate Larini finished on 11th. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 29-Mar-1997

In the free practice on Saturday Herbert lost some time on the circuit. With 1:17.587 he was faster than on Friday but he was only 12th fastest. His teammate Nicola Larini was 15th fastest. In the qualifying session Herbert was only 13th fastest with 1:17.409. The times were very narrow. Herbert had only 1.6 seconds difference to Villeneuve's pole position time. Larini was only 19th fastest with 1:18.773. He had a spin and hung on the cerbstones until he was pushed onto the track by the track marshals. On TV you could see that he parked the car in the pitlane. Perhaps he wasn't allowed to use the car further because he had help after the spin. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 28-Mar-1997

Good effort from Johnny Herbert in the Sauber. In the first free practice on friday at the Brazilian GP he was second fastest behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen. In the second free practice he was fourth fastest with 1:18.261. Larini was 20th fastest overall due to an accident in the morning. He didn't participate at the afternoon session. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 09-Mar-1997

In the morning warmup session Johnny Herbert went out to drive the 3rd fastest lap. Only Villeneuve and Frentzen were faster than him. After the begin of the race Johnny Herbert had a tremendous good start. He had the second position together with Villeneuve and started to overtake him in the first corner when 'Crazy Eddie' (Irvine) rammed Villeneuve's car into Herbert's Sauber and pushed them both into the gravel bed. This was the second time out of two times that Johnny Herbert couldn't race at Melbourne. Irvine was to blame for that accident but he got no penalty after the race. Most people wondered about the direction Irvine's car had in the first corner. It pointed directly into the gravel bed and if there had been no cars he wouldn't have made it through the corner with that angle neither. So there was only Nicola Larini left to score the season's first point for the Sauber Team when he finished sixth. ->GP Timetable

Sat, 08-Mar-1997

In the qualifying session Johnny Herbert qualified on 7th position with 1:32.287 about three seconds behind Villeneuves time. His team mate Nicola Larini reached only 15th position due to an accident when Gerhard Berger crashed into his car. ->GP Timetable

Fri, 07-Mar-1997

During the free practice session of the GP of Melbourne Johnny Herbert drove the 9th fastest time with 1:34.593. Nicola Larini in the second Sauber drove the 15th fastest time. ->GP Timetable

Sun, 23-Feb-1997

Nicola Larini tested the C16 again. He drove 74 laps at Barcelona and set a fastest lap of 1:19.90. He simulated a grand prix. ->Test-times

Sat, 22-Feb-1997

Johnny Herbert flew around the circuit in his Sauber C16. He set a remarkable 1:18.64 with a new Goodyear tyre compound. ->Test-times

Fri, 21-Feb-1997

Nicola Larini had the opportunity to test the C16 at Barcelona. He had a fastest lap of 1:24.37. ->Test-times

Thu, 20-Feb-1997

Johnny Herbert found further improvements of the car setup and set a fastest lap of 1:19.79, half a second faster than the day before. ->Test-times

Wed, 19-Feb-1997

At the first day of the test sessions for Sauber in Barcelona Johnny Herbert did a excellent third fastest laptime of 1:20.25 behind Coulthard (1:19.39) and Hakkinen (1:19.65) in the McLaren. The times were faster than Damon Hill's fastest laptime 1996 of 1:20.65. ->Test-times

Fri, 14-Feb-1997

Today Nicola Larini did first tests with the C16 at Fiorano. His fastest time was 1:01,7. He knows the track better than Johnny Herbert, because he did many tests for Ferrari here. The Sauber Team will continue testing at Barcelona from 19th to 23rd February. ->Test-times

Wed, 12-Feb-1997

Johnny Herbert tested the new Sauber C16 again at the Fiorano circuit the home track of Ferrari. He drove 25 laps and clocked a best time of 1:02.40. He was 2.5 seconds away from Eddie Irvines previous best lap of 0:59.78. The car had some problems with the gearbox. The car was presented at Monday on the Sauber Homepage. Only journalists knew about that and had access.Today the car is presented to the rest of the world at the official Sauber Homepage. By the way: the Sauber Homepage got a new design. ->Test-times

Tue, 11-Feb-1997

The new Sauber C16 with the Petronas V10 is out! Johnny Herbert did a first test of all functions at the Fiorano circuit/Italy. He drove 25 laps with a best time of 1:02.83. The building schedule of the car was faster than most people expected --> definitely good news. ->Test-times

Wed, 05-Feb-1997

Peter Sauber admitted in an interview that the new car could not be ready just before the first Grand Prix at Melbourne. He hopes that the team could do a shakedown with two cars at Maranello circuit. Johnny Herbert and Nicola Larini will not have sufficient tests with the Petronas V10 engine. The new C16 is expected to look similar to the C15. Sauber will unveil the new car live in the internet. Rumours say that this will be on February 10th.

Sauber Team NEWS ARCHIVE 1997