BMW’s first car after purchasing the Sauber team in 2005, the F1.06 competed in the 2006 Formula One season. Driven initially by Nick Heidfeld and 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, the car’s level of competitiveness was a pleasant surprise in what was to be a transitional year for the team. The F1.06 was a points contender all year, only failing to score points in five races. Villeneuve was replaced by rookie Robert Kubica following the German Grand Prix after sustaining an injury in a crash. Days after then Hungarian Grand Prix, in which Kubica drove to a solid seventh place before being disqualified because his car was too light, BMW Sauber announced the switch was permanent. Villeneuve later revealed he left Formula One because he didn't want to be a part of a potential "shoot-out" with Kubica, feeling that, as a former world champion, he had no need to prove himself. The F1.06 scored two third place podium finishes, Heidfeld in Hungary and Kubica in Italy, and 36 points over the course of the season, with the team finishing fifth in the Constructors' Championship, an improvement on Sauber's eighth position with 20 points in 2005. This fine 1:12 scale model of the BMW Sauber F1.06 Nosecone has been handcrafted and finished in our workshops with the co-operation and assistance of the manufacturer regarding original finishes, materials, archive imagery and drawings. The use of supremely accurate digital scanning of the original car has allowed us to perfectly recreate every detail at scale. Furthermore, it has undergone detailed scrutiny by both engineering and design teams to ensure complete accuracy of representation.