Pascal Picci has continued to dismiss the rumours that have come since Monisha Kaltenborn departed the Sauber F1 Team earlier this week, believing they are trying to undermine and ‘demolish’ the Hinwil-based squad.
Picci, the current chairman of Sauber and the CEO of Longbow Finance, feels the rumours that the team were looking to favour Marcus Ericsson over Pascal Wehrlein are completely wide of the mark and damaging to the team, and he insists both are free to race with equal opportunities.
Kaltenborn departed the team after disagreements about the future direction of Sauber, with rumours rife that Swedish backers wanted them to focus their efforts mainly on Ericsson, but Picci feels these rumours are unjustified.
“I must once again deny the story that there was a difference of opinion about the management of the drivers after someone said that we would like to favour Ericsson,” said Picci to the Swiss edition of Motorsport.com.
“This is a low blow – like a punch under the belt – that has made us look bad. It’s a negative action – orchestrated around Marcus and the team in order to demolish us.
“If the Swede got stronger or gets ahead of Pascal in the standings, then many will think and certainly say that this has only happened because he has a better or more competitive car.
“It’s an attitude that I find disgusting – and fuelled by the rumours that someone has been circulating.”
