Cash crisis irks Sauber chief

SAUBER team principal Monisha Kaltenborn believes drastic change is needed to address the financial folly that has led to the demise of two Formula 1 teams over the past week.

Kaltenborn has long expressed concern at the escalating costs in F1, with organisations such as Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes and McLaren operating on budgets of £200-300 million a year.

Unable to adequately compete, back-of-the-grid marques Marussia and Caterham have been forced into administration, and the belief is they are unlikely to be seen in F1 again.

Sauber’s own future has been placed in doubt, although Kaltenborn claims that, while precarious, her team’s position is not as bad as Caterham and Marussia. Kaltenborn is, however, angered by events, particularly as the teams had the opportunity at the start of the year to address the situation, only to reject FIA president Jean Todt’s plans for a cost cap from 2015 onwards.

She said: “It’s a real shame we have turnovers of billions of dollars, yet as a sport, as a community, we are not capable of making sure that 11 teams survive. Now you try to explain that to somebody.”

In particular, Kaltenborn has called for a re-think as to how money is distributed. A marque such as Ferrari receives four times as much as Marussia and Caterham. She added: “There should be a certain amount that allows each and every team to at least live decently. Given the brands, a team like Ferrari will attract different sponsors and amounts than ourselves.”