 1996 saw Sauber's worst Formula One season in terms of points despite a promising driver line-up in Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Johnny Herbert, a revised C15 and the new V10 Cosworth JD engine.Despite again holding seventh spot on a shrinking list of constructors, they only scored 11 points and had not impressed for much of the season.For the next season they announced a customer deal to receive Ferrari V10 engines while they worked with new sponsors Petronas to construct their own engines.