Monisha Kaltenborn proud of Sauber’s achievements so far

Monisha Kaltenborn has expressed great satisfaction at Sauber’s achievements so far this season, which has seen the Hinwil-based outfit pick up four podium finishes and 116 points in the Constructors’ Championship. As the F1 fraternity enters the final four races of the season, Sauber’s goal remains fixed on clinching fifth in the Championship.

Despite the intense competitiveness of the 2012 season, Sauber have remained close to the sharp end of the field, achieving many great results throughout the year. Although the Swiss outfit have yet to achieve a race victory this season, several highly competitive podiums have been scored by both Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi. However, with Sauber only 20 points behind fifth placed Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship, their season is far from over as F1 prepares for the Indian Grand Prix.

“With four podium places and now 116 World Championship points, we can certainly be proud of our achievements so far as a private team.” Explained Sauber’s new team principal, Monisha Kaltenborn. “Of course there have been races where things didn’t go to plan and we forfeited valuable points. Our car, the Sauber C31-Ferrari, is a great success and has proved competitive on virtually any kind of circuit. Some describe it as one of the best cars on the grid. Now it’s a matter of carrying the impetus forward into the remaining four races. Our ambitious goal remains to finish fifth in the Constructors’ World Championship. And I have the utmost confidence both in our team at Hinwil and in the crew at the track along with our two drivers, Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Pérez.”

With Sergio Perez moving to McLaren next season and Kamui Kobayashi’s future with the team looking uncertain, both drivers have continued to strive for positive results. Kamui Kobayashi achieved his first ever podium in Formula 1 at his home race at Suzuka several weeks ago, and is unarguably aiming to impress in a bid to retain his drive with the team for 2013.

The next round of the Championship takes place around the still relatively new Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi, for the second running of the Indian Grand Prix. The track has many similarities to the Korean Grand Prix circuit, which failed to greatly benefit the Sauber C31. However, with the different temperatures expected for the race weekend, coupled with the different tyre compounds set to be provided by Pirelli, Monisha Kaltenborn is confident ahead of the race weekend.

“The track layout is very similar to that in Korea. There are slow and fast turns and quite a long straight.” Continued Monisha Kaltenborn, “However, it will be warmer there and Pirelli is providing different tyres – soft and hard rather than the super-soft and soft ones we had in Korea. That will mean different race strategies. For the C31, the circuit in India is likely to be neither ideal terrain nor particularly problematic. I’m confident that we will manage another decent points haul there.”

During last season’s inaugural Indian Grand Prix, Sauber were only able to achieve one World Championship point at the hands of Sergio Perez. The Hinwil-based outfit will naturally be hopeful of more points at this seasons event, as they continue to strive to catch Mercedes for fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship.

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