Monisha Kaltenborn believes that the upgrade package the Sauber F1 Team are set to bring to the Austrian and British Grand Prix should enable the Swiss outfit to become a genuine midfield contender.
The team have struggled for the most part this season, scoring only four points in the opening seven races thanks to Pascal Wehrlein’s eighth place finish in the Spanish Grand Prix, but the team have been struggling with the downforce levels on its C36-Ferrari.
Team Principal Kaltenborn feels the team should be part of the midfield battle, especially with the upgrades that are coming, but the early part of the year has not been as strong as they would have liked.
“The car is not where it should be, and the technical team now has to improve its competitiveness,” said Kaltenborn on Autosport. “That is the clear goal.
“They know that, and it is now for them to try to already take the next step with the package we want to bring around Silverstone and Spielberg. There will be a bit of it in Spielberg, and then Silverstone and Budapest, so that should be a major step.
“It [the midfield] has to be our target. We have not set any hard and fast positions there, because there has not been enough time to seriously look at that, but that is where we want to be.
“Our target still remains that we want to go into the midfield and we see how far we can get. It is a challenge to our technical team and they are taking up the challenge, and now they have to show that they can master it.”