Kaltenborn relieved after difficult financial situation

Sauber team chief Monisha Kaltenborn is delighted with the deal her squad secured with the investor company Longbow. However, she admitted that it was a hard task to find an investor which had a big impact on this year's performance of the team.

Sauber’s place in F1 has been unsecure amid troubled financial situations for long months. Its team chief Monisha Kaltenborn has been negotiating with different companies to try to find a solution which secured the team’s future.

The Austrian-Indian revealed that it was a trying period for her and the whole team as the future of the traditional Swiss team and jobs of more than 300 people were in doubt.

“That was a huge strain because the headquarters in Hinwill and the workplaces were in jeopardy,” said Kaltenborn in an interview with motorsport-total.com.

“We speak about more than 350 workplaces which we had to secure. That is now ensured as is the centre in Hinwill.”

Sauber managed to start a collaboration with Longbow. This is a leading investor in predominantly UK-based companies, in the health sector.

The difficult financial situation had a big impact on the team’s results. Developments had to be abandoned which resulted in defeat against the Swiss team’s direct rivals. Sauber slip back to the back of the grid and it has been outpaced by current absolute backmarker Manor as well.

Kaltenborn is sure her team can come back soon as it can now fully concentrate on enhancing the performance of the car.

“We will put through a couple of things on track now which we were not able to do due to the financial situations. However, as all the other teams we are working on next year’s car and I am sure that we can make a big jump forward again,” said Kaltenborn to motorsport-total.com.