Monisha Kaltenborn ( Narang; born 10 May 1971) is the former team principal of the

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it un ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

team and held a 33.3% stake in the outfit until it was taken over by Longbow Finance S.A. in July 2016. She was the team's

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

from January 2010 until 22 June 2017. She was the first female team principal in

Biography

Kaltenborn was born in Dehradun,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Her family emigrated to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

when she was a child, and she took Austrian citizenship. From 1990 to 1995 she studied for a law degree at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

. She then studied at

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

and was awarded

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in International Business Law from

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1996. Whilst still a student in Vienna, she worked for the

United Nations Industrial Development Organization The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in ...

and the UN Commission for International Trade Law, and on completion of her studies she worked for various legal firms: first in Stuttgart with

Gleiss Lutz Gleiss Lutz Hootz Hirsch, frequently referred to as Gleiss Lutz, is a business law firm headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. It is one of Germany's largest law firms, with six German offices in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, and ...

; then back in Vienna with Wolf & Theis; and finally for the Fritz Kaiser Group in 1998–1999. At this stage, Kaiser was a co-owner of the

team (along with founder and team principal

Peter Sauber Peter Sauber (born 13 October 1943) is a retired Swiss motorsport executive. He was the team principal and owner of various motorsports teams, most visibly the eponymous Sauber Formula One team. Motorsport career After being trained as an electr ...

and Red Bull owner

Dietrich Mateschitz Dietrich Mateschitz (; 20 May 1944 – 22 October 2022) was an Austrian billionaire businessman. He was the co-founder and 49% owner of Red Bull GmbH. In April 2022, Mateschitz's net worth was estimated at US$27.4 billion. Mateschitz worked in ...

), and Kaltenborn was employed to take charge of the team's corporate and legal affairs. By 2000, Kaiser had sold his shares but Kaltenborn remained with the team as the head of its legal department. From 2001, she has been a member of its management board, and in early 2010, following the team's return to independent status following the withdrawal of former partner BMW, she was appointed CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG. She is also involved in the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

's Commission for Women and Motorsport, under Michèle Mouton. On 16 May 2012, Peter Sauber transferred a third of the Sauber team to Kaltenborn, making her a part owner. In October, he retired from front-line management of the team, handing her the role of team principal. On 22 June 2017 Sauber F1 Team confirmed Kaltenborn would be leaving the Sauber Group effective immediately through a statement on their website:

Longbow Finance SA regrets to announce that, by mutual consent and due to diverging views of the future of the company, Monisha Kaltenborn will leave her positions with the Sauber Group effective immediately. We thank her for many years of strong leadership, great passion for the Sauber F1 Team and wish her the very best for the future. Her successor will be announced shortly; in the meantime we wish the team the best of luck in Azerbaijan.

In February 2018, Kaltenborn made a return to motorsport with the founding of KDC Racing, which made its racing debut in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

ADAC Formula 4 ADAC Formula 4 (german: ADAC Formel 4) is a racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2015 ADAC Formula 4. It replaced the ADAC Formel Masters, held from 2008 to 2014. History Gerhard Berger and ...

championships. KDC is a fifty-fifty venture between Kaltenborn - the 'K' of the team's name - and French-Monegasque businesswoman Emily di Comberti, whose son Aaron competed in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship in 2017. In her first job in Stuttgart, Monisha met Jens Kaltenborn and later married him in Dehradun. They have two children and live in

Küsnacht Küsnacht is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland. History Küsnacht is first mentioned in 1188 as ''de Cussenacho''. Earliest findings of settlement date back to the stone age. There are also finding ...

, which is close to the Sauber factory in Hinwil, Switzerland.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Sauber team biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaltenborn, Monisha Living people 1971 births Businesspeople from Dehradun Indian emigrants to Austria Austrian chief executives Austrian women lawyers 20th-century Austrian lawyers Austrian expatriates in Switzerland People from Küsnacht Women chief executives 21st-century Austrian businesswomen Formula One team owners 20th-century women lawyers Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the London School of Economics