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

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG, currently competing in Formula One as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and also known simply as Kick Sauber or Sauber, is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who pro ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

team. She 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 chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

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

Career

Kaltenborn was born in

Dehradun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, d ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Her family emigrated to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

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 (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. She then studied at

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

and was awarded

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

in International Business Law from

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

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 e ...

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

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

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 eight offices worldwide in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, ...

; 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 Paul 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 e ...

and

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

owner

Dietrich Mateschitz Dietrich Markwart Eberhart 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. Ma ...

), 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 Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

, she was appointed CEO of Sauber Motorsport AG. She is also involved in the FIA's Commission for Women and Motorsport, under

Michèle Mouton Michèle Hélène Raymonde Mouton (born 23 June 1951) is a French former rally driver. Competing in the World Rally Championship for the Audi factory team, she took four victories and finished runner-up in the drivers' world championship in 198 ...

. 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, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and

ADAC Formula 4 ADAC Formula 4 () was 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 the FIA Single S ...

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 The GB3 Championship is a single seater motorsport series based in the United Kingdom. The championship is the UK's premier single-seater category, and is aimed at young racing drivers moving up from FIA Formula 4 championships, the GB4 Champi ...

in 2017.

Personal life

In her first job in Stuttgart, Monisha met Jens Kaltenborn and later married him in

. They have two children and live in

Küsnacht Küsnacht () is a municipality in the district of Meilen in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. History Küsnacht is first mentioned in 1188 as ''de Cussenacho''. Earliest findings of settlement date back to the Stone Age. There are also findi ...

, which is close to the Sauber factory in

Hinwil Hinwil is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Hinwil (district), Hinwil in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland. History The village Hinwil from which the later municipality ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. 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 21st-century Austrian businesspeople Formula One team owners Formula One team principals 20th-century women lawyers Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the London School of Economics Austrian motorsport people