Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn has said that the Swiss team is still aiming for sixth place in the constructors championship in the remaining three races in the 2011 Formula One season, saying that she was "quite happy" with the season to date.
The Sauber squad are embroiled in a close three-way scrap for sixth place in the standings, sitting nine points behind current sixth place team Force India and three points ahead of Toro Rosso.The Swiss team have been outscored by both of their rivals over the last few races, despite a strong run of results in the middle of the year, but Kaltenborn says that the team is aiming to get back into sixth place by the end of the year.
"That's very clear," she said in a Q&A session with the team when asked about 2011's targets, "We want to reclaim sixth place in the constructors' standings after slipping down to seventh recently."
As far as the year as a whole was concerned, though, she said that the team had shown strong progress compared to 2010.
"All in all, I'm quite happy with the season, especially when you think of the obstacles we've had to overcome since 2009," she smiled, referring to the team's loss of BMW works backing at the end of 2009.
She added: "Our aim for 2011 was to make a clear improvement over 2010. We had a strong first half of the season overall.
"However, since then various factors have conspired to cost us points and chip away at the advantage we'd built up earlier in the year."
And Indian-born Kaltenborn added that she was looking forward to the inaugural grand prix in her home country, with the Indian GP the next scheduled round of the 2011 championship.
"I'd like India's Formula One debut to be a wonderful sporting occasion and the Sauber F1 Team to contribute to the excitement of the spectators by putting in a good performance," she smiled.
Asked about India's commitment to F1, she added: "I think there's a lot of interest within the country. I get the impression that excitement has been growing significantly over recent months.
"The closer the grand prix gets, the more media enquiries we've been fielding from India. It's not easy for any sport to find a space in the public consciousness there alongside cricket.
"But I'm sure that this grand prix will represent a big step towards establishing our sport in India."
And she said that it was important that India's developing global presence was represented on Formula One's ever-expanding calendar.
"This year's Formula One schedule comprises 19 races in 18 countries, and it's right and proper that India is now part of this exclusive group," she affirmed.
"The decision to add India to the calendar reflects the country's global and economic standing. India also represents a very big market for Formula 1 and, as such, has huge potential for many companies, some of which are already involved in the sport."
She added: "Plus, India ranks as a high-tech hub nowadays and boasts extremely well-qualified specialists. The grand prix could open doors for more engineers and companies to find their way into Formula One.
"As I see it, incorporating India into the World Championship is a good move both for the country and for Formula One."
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