Sauber and F1 team principal Monisha Kaltenborn have parted ways according to several reports that have emerged today.
Kalnteborn was appointed the Swiss team’s CEO in 2010 when Peter Sauber rebuilt the outfit he had sold to BMW five years earlier, and she became a part owner when buying shares in 2011, a year later she became Formula 1’s first female team principal
Sky Sport are reporting that she has now left her Sauber post, meaning the team currently ninth in the constructors’ standings have no boss heading into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
During her time in charge, and since becoming an independent team again seven years ago, Sauber have struggled to deliver consistently as a midfield outfit, with their only two podiums coming in 2012.
Kaltenborn oversaw one of F1’s strangest scandals in 2015 when Sauber technically went into the season-opening Australian GP with three main drivers, with Giedo van der Garde insistent that he was signed up for the upcoming campaign.
Sauber stuck to their new partnership of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr in Melbourne and for the rest of the year, and had to pay Van der Garde’s a significant compensation fee for him to relinquish his contract.
Eighth and tenth-place finishes in the Constructors’ Championship have followed that dispute, with Sauber’s only victory coming back in 2008 thanks to Robert Kubica’s Canadian GP triumph.
Sauber have endured years of financial troubles and, amid speculation that they could fold, Kaltenborn oversaw the sale of the team to Swiss based investment firm Longbow Finance last year. Though she kept her post as CEO and team principal at the time, owner Peter Sauber stepped down.
After the Manor F1 team folded at the end of 2016, Sauber were expected to be the backrunners for the season – though Pascal Wehrlein’s crucial four points in Spain means McLaren are currently at the bottom of the standings.
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
No comments:
Post a Comment