No Sauber contract for Jos

Published on 17 March 2002 by Thorsten Hendriks

Right after the Malaysian Grand Prix Peter Sauber announced that Jos won't be driving for his team. "I have spoken with Huub Rothengatter yesterday and told him we cannot offer Jos a contract. The height differences between the drivers are too large and preparing a T-car just for Jos does not make any sense."

This ended weeks of speculation and hope of many fans that Jos would return to Formula 1 sooner than expected. Huub shares the disappointment but adds a realistic note: "If Jos would have to step in a Grand Prix weekend into a Sauber which is meant for another driver it would take at least 3 hours to change everything. This is a giant practical problem. No changes had to be done on the monocoque (which meant no extra expensive crash tests), but things like pedals, steering column, seat and the seat belt construction. This is almost the whole of the interior of the cockpit. Mission impossible if you want to drive as well in that weekend."

"A lot of work is done to get everything perfect for Jos to drive with Sauber, we have visited the factory quite frequently, but to no avail."

What's next Huub? "We are working very hard to get Jos into an Formula 1 seat and we are very confident. It wouldn't surprise me if he will be driving Gran Prix before we are half way this Formula 1 season."