He competed in hillclimbing events in a Volkswagen Beetle he had purchased,[citation needed] and thus the foundations for his first project as a team owner were laid.

After opting not to run the family traffic light business, Peter built the Sauber C1 (the C stands for Christiane, the name of his wife) in his parents' basement.

[citation needed] It also remained in racing for ten years in the hands of other drivers, notably Friedrich Hürzeler, who took the 1974 crown in the car.

[citation needed] The C4 of 1975 heralded the first aluminium chassis developed by the team, and Boisson was joined by Edy Wiss in designing it.

The most successful of the early Sauber cars, the C5 was used to great effect in conjunction with its 2-litre BMW engine—taking the 1976 Interserie Championship in the hands of Herbert Muller.

This sports car partnership culminated in November 1991 – having ignited the career of Michael Schumacher and Sauber's own protégé, Karl Wendlinger.

In the summer of 1991 Harvey Postlethwaite joined the team to design an F1 car and Mercedes funded a vast new factory at Hinwil.

[citation needed] In the later years of this period Sauber saw increased success with the team finishing fourth in the World Championship in 2001 and fifth in 2002 despite having a much smaller budget than many of its rivals.

Peter Sauber worked with BMW to develop a rescue package that would allow the team to continue in the sport without the manufacturer's backing.

In July 2016 Longbow Finance, a Swiss investment company, bought Sauber Motorsport gaining complete ownership.