Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsSauber

Sauber looking for long-term partner

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Monisha Kaltenborn says Sauber is looking for a long-term partner to help it move further up the grid.

Sauber was previously taken over by BMW and ran as BMW Sauber from 2006-2010, though the factory backing ended after the 2009 season. In that time, the team finished second in the constructors’ championship in 2007 and third the following year.

With Kaltenborn saying there has been increased interest in the team following its strong start to the season, the team principal says the focus is to secure a partner capable of returning the team to the front of the field.

“You always look for long-term,” Kaltenborn told F1i. “We’ve seen in the past - and we’ve had a past like this as well - if you have a very strong partner we know how competitive we can be with the infrastructure we have and the people we have. So ideally we are looking for that.

“We know that we don’t need those exorbitantly high budgets to be at the front because when we were a manufacturer team we didn’t have these kinds of budgets. So we can do it in less and we hope we can find a strong partner to show that.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.