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Kubica Comes to Sauber's Rescue

After BMW announced their complete retirement from Formula One on Wedensday, plenty of questions are still up in the air as to what will happen to Peter Sauber's team. The Swiss manager was holding 20% of the team before the German manufacturer decided to quit, and will now have to look for a new business partner in order to keep the Hinwil based operations alive.

One unexpected help might come from one of his own race drivers, Polish Robert Kubica. Although his manager yesterday announced Kubica is officially on the market for a 2010 contract, the Pole will presumably assist Sauber with the rescue of his team.

We will support Sauber with the rescue of the team,” Daniele Morelli, Kubica's manager, told the Swiss newspaper Blick.

Another piece of rumor links current sponsor of the team Petronas – an important player in the oil market worldwide – with a potential buyout of the Hinwil based team. However, the first statement coming from the Malaysian company neither confirms nor denies the move.

Petronas' involvement in F1 with the BMW-Sauber team has been that of a strategic partnership, to complement the company's branding and business marketing objectives through the areas of premium branding efforts,” said Petronas in a press release.

The Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) also announced, during the course of Wednesday afternoon, that it will join efforts to see that the Swiss team will survive the BMW quit. How all of this will materialize, however, that's an entirely different story.

If 65-year old Sauber will manage to eventually save his team from F1 scrappage, test driver Christian Klien is in pole position to secure an F1 drive with the team, as both Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica are on their way to leaving it at the end of 2009.
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