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From GMM (with Update below)
Sauber's next driver is closely linked to the group of Russian sponsors who on Monday were hailed as the saviours of the embattled Swiss team.
Amid reports financial worries could soon silence Sauber's engines, the Hinwil based team announced a timely deal with a group of Russian entities closely aligned with president Vladimir Putin.
A media statement said Russian driver Sergey Sirotkin, who is just 17, would as part of the deal be prepared "as a racing driver for the team in 2014".
It is already being reported that Sirotkin, currently racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 series, will appear in the grey Sauber in practice sessions later in 2013.
An almost completely unknown name within the F1 paddock, teenager Sirotkin therefore stands to break all the records for the youngest ever grand prix driver.
"We will do everything possible to prepare him for his entry into formula one, so that he will be our driver next year," team boss Monisha Kaltenborn told Germany's motorsport-total.com.
The British Telegraph newspaper reports that Sirotkin is the son of Oleg Sirotkin, the chief of one of Sauber's new backers, the National Institute of Aviation Technologies.
Sauber said the Hinwil based team, which according to Kaltenborn has not been sold, "will benefit from the advanced know-how of the front-end Russian scientists and engineers" of the entity headed by Sirotkin's father.
Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary said Sirotkin will not appear later this week at the young driver test at Silverstone, "but the intention is to have him in a race seat in time for next year's inaugural Russian grand prix in Sochi".
UPDATE
Sergey Sirotkin's father has played down suggestions the teenager is too young to make his formula one debut later this year.
"There will be a number of preliminary tests," he told the Russian website f1news.ru on Monday, "and if these tests prove to be competitive, then we will talk about (Sergey Sirotkin) joining the team.
"If he needs additional development, so there will be an additional preparatory period," added Oleg Sirotkin.
"But we believe that Sergey, although young, has already gone quite a long way. He performed in Formula Abarth, in F3, in Auto GP, and this whole year he is in the Renault World Series. So he went through all the steps. We all know that Kimi Raikkonen went to formula one straight from the Renault 2.0, and everything was fine. If a guy has flair and talent, it is not necessary to sit for 10 years in each category," Sirotkin senior insisted.
Should the Russian deal ultimately save sinking Sauber, it will be hailed within the paddock. But, as ever in F1, there is always scepticism.
Some, including well-placed Russian sources, wonder if the companies are actually flush with money. Others question the link between them and next year's inaugural Russian grand prix.
2014 race host Sochi, for instance, lies in the south, while Sauber's deal is with the State Fund of Development of North-West Russian Federation.
Sauber's next driver is closely linked to the group of Russian sponsors who on Monday were hailed as the saviours of the embattled Swiss team.
Amid reports financial worries could soon silence Sauber's engines, the Hinwil based team announced a timely deal with a group of Russian entities closely aligned with president Vladimir Putin.
A media statement said Russian driver Sergey Sirotkin, who is just 17, would as part of the deal be prepared "as a racing driver for the team in 2014".
It is already being reported that Sirotkin, currently racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 series, will appear in the grey Sauber in practice sessions later in 2013.
 |
| Sergey Sirotkin, Formula Renault 3.5. (Photo: Renault) |
An almost completely unknown name within the F1 paddock, teenager Sirotkin therefore stands to break all the records for the youngest ever grand prix driver.
"We will do everything possible to prepare him for his entry into formula one, so that he will be our driver next year," team boss Monisha Kaltenborn told Germany's motorsport-total.com.
The British Telegraph newspaper reports that Sirotkin is the son of Oleg Sirotkin, the chief of one of Sauber's new backers, the National Institute of Aviation Technologies.
 |
| Photo: Sauber F1 Team |
Sauber said the Hinwil based team, which according to Kaltenborn has not been sold, "will benefit from the advanced know-how of the front-end Russian scientists and engineers" of the entity headed by Sirotkin's father.
Telegraph correspondent Tom Cary said Sirotkin will not appear later this week at the young driver test at Silverstone, "but the intention is to have him in a race seat in time for next year's inaugural Russian grand prix in Sochi".
UPDATE
Sergey Sirotkin's father has played down suggestions the teenager is too young to make his formula one debut later this year.
"There will be a number of preliminary tests," he told the Russian website f1news.ru on Monday, "and if these tests prove to be competitive, then we will talk about (Sergey Sirotkin) joining the team.
"If he needs additional development, so there will be an additional preparatory period," added Oleg Sirotkin.
"But we believe that Sergey, although young, has already gone quite a long way. He performed in Formula Abarth, in F3, in Auto GP, and this whole year he is in the Renault World Series. So he went through all the steps. We all know that Kimi Raikkonen went to formula one straight from the Renault 2.0, and everything was fine. If a guy has flair and talent, it is not necessary to sit for 10 years in each category," Sirotkin senior insisted.
Should the Russian deal ultimately save sinking Sauber, it will be hailed within the paddock. But, as ever in F1, there is always scepticism.
Some, including well-placed Russian sources, wonder if the companies are actually flush with money. Others question the link between them and next year's inaugural Russian grand prix.
2014 race host Sochi, for instance, lies in the south, while Sauber's deal is with the State Fund of Development of North-West Russian Federation.