Sauber passes on the baton to Kaltenborn

After taking a one-third stake in the Sauber team in May, Monisha Kaltenborn has now become the teams new principal.

Kaltenborn initially joined the team in 2000 as part of Sauber's legal department and a year later she joined the Management Board.

Following BMW's withdrawal from the team in 2010 she was appointed as chief executive officer and in 2012 she was made part-owner in a move which was done in the interests of continuity.

The next stage of that development has now been made public with team owner Peter Sauber, making the move to step away from the day-to-day running of the team at the age of 69.

“We decided a long time ago that Monisha would take over from me, but we left the timing open. Now is a good time for both of us, so this is the right moment to pass on the baton. After all, there have been a number of races I’ve been unable to attend - most recently the Japanese Grand Prix, where the team put in an excellent performance. I’m in no doubt that Monisha has all the necessary skills to be an outstanding team principal, and I’m equally certain she will ensure that the values underpinning the company live on. That is very important to me.” Sauber told formula1.com.

Born in India, Monisha's family emigrated to Vienna when she was a child and she took Austrian citizenship.

She went on to study a Law degree at the University of Vienna and then a masters degree in International Business Law at the London School of Economics.

After the completion of he studies she worked for Gleiss Lutz in Germany and this was where she met Jens Kaltenborn, who she later married and has two children with, they now live close to the Sauber factory in Switzerland.

She becomes the only female team principal in Formula One.

Kaltenborn added: “Naturally I’m very aware of the major responsibility I have for Peter Sauber’s racing team, He founded the team over 40 years ago, and in the spring it will be 20 years since Sauber lined up for its debut Formula One grand prix. We are the fourth-oldest team in Formula One. To build up a project like this and keep it alive in a difficult environment is a tremendous achievement. I have set my sights high and am committed to taking the team forward as Peter Sauber would want and leading it on to success.”