Sauber hoping to keep future drivers on board

Monisha Kaltenborn thinks that if Sauber can provide its drivers with a good car every season, the Swiss team can prevent them from jumping ship.

After two years with Sauber, the Hinwil based team has lost its impressive youngster Sergio Perez to McLaren, and is now expected to promote another Telmex-promoted young Mexican - Esteban Gutierrez - into the race cockpit for 2013.

Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber F1 Team

Photo by: xpb.cc

"We wanted Sergio to stay, but it was not possible," team boss Kaltenborn is quoted by Brazil's Totalrace.

"However, if we can (always) have a competitive car like this season, we can prevent this situation from happening again in the future," she added.

Gutierrez's teammate in 2013 is expected to be German Nico Hulkenberg, who is moving from Force India to Sauber, but has also been linked this year with a switch to Ferrari.

"We have a great history of bringing young talent into the sport and giving them all the support they need to develop, learn as quickly as possible and move forward," Kaltenborn continued.

Sauber is currently sixth in the 2012 constructors' championship, between Mercedes (5th) and Force India.

"I think what we did this year is very important for the team's strategy for the coming years," Kaltenborn insisted.