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Sauber Academy
Program to support young racing drivers through their careers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sauber Academy, formerly known as the Sauber Junior Team, was a driver development programme by Sauber Motorsport to support drivers from karts through the feeder series ladder to promote them to their Formula One team.[1]
| |
| Founded | 2019 (as Sauber Junior Team) |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Sauber Motorsport AG |
| Folded | 2025 |
| Base | Hinwil, Zürich, Switzerland |
| Team principal(s) | Beat Zehnder |
| Noted drivers |  Juan Manuel Correa Callum Ilott Arthur Leclerc Théo Pourchaire Fabio Scherer Roman Staněk Ugo Ugochukwu Zane Maloney |
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In November 2018, Sauber entered a partnership with Czech team Charouz Racing System to form the Sauber Junior Team, followed by the creation of a karting team, aligned with Kart Republic, in March 2019.[2][3] Sauber then parted ways with Charouz and rebranded the programme as the Sauber Academy for 2020.[4][5]
After Audi took over Sauber's entry in 2026, the team launched its own driver academy, the Audi Driver Development Programme.[6]
Former drivers
Sauber Junior Team (2019)
| Driver | Years | Series that driver competed as Sauber junior |
|---|---|---|
| Juan Manuel Correa |
2019 | FIA Formula 2 Championship (2019) |
| Alessandro Ghiretti |
2019 | ADAC Formula 4 (2019) |
 Raoul Hyman |
2019 | FIA Formula 3 Championship (2019) |
| Callum Ilott[note 1] |
2019 | FIA Formula 2 Championship (2019) |
| Arthur Leclerc |
2019 | ADAC Formula 4 (2019) |
| Théo Pourchaire |
2019 | ADAC Formula 4 (2019) |
| Fabio Scherer |
2019 | FIA Formula 3 Championship (2019) |
| Roman Staněk |
2019 | ADAC Formula 4 (2019) Italian F4 Championship (2019) |
 Lirim Zendeli |
2019 | FIA Formula 3 Championship (2019) |
Sauber Academy (2020–2025)
Sauber Karting Team
From 2019 to 2022, Sauber and kart manufacturer Kart Republic ran the Sauber Karting Team.[3]
| Driver | Years | Series that driver competed as Sauber junior |
|---|---|---|
| Joshua Dufek |
2019 | Karting (2019) |
| Dexter Patterson |
2019 | Karting (2019) |
 Christian Ho |
2019–2021 | Karting (2019–2021) |
 Piotr Czaja |
2020 | Karting (2020) |
| Harry Thompson[5] |
2020 | Karting (2020) |
| Ugo Ugochukwu[17] |
2020–2021 | Karting (2020–2021) |
| Tiziano Monza[18] |
2020–2021 | Karting (2020–2021) |
 Miguel Costa[19][20] |
2020–2022 | Karting – OKJ (2020–2022) |
| Sonny Smith[21] |
2021 | Karting – OKJ (2021) |
| Maciej Gładysz[22] |
2021 | Karting – OKJ (2021) |
| Gustaw Wiśniewski[22] |
2021 | Karting – OKJ (2021) |
 Zachary David[23] |
2021–2022 | Karting – OK (2021–2022) |
Sauber Affiliate drivers
In 2014, Sauber set up Sauber Affiliate drivers, an F1 preparation programme with the team, including on-track testing, simulator work, as well as mental and physical training, with the goal of gaining the FIA Super Licence required for F1 competition.[24]
| Driver | Years | Series that driver competed as Sauber Affiliate |
|---|---|---|
| Simona de Silvestro |
2014 | None |
Notes
- In 2019 Ilott was part of both the Sauber Junior Team and the Ferrari Driver Academy.