Monisha Kaltenborn was not very chatty when she met the F1 media at today’s FIA press conference, and inevitably she ducked questions about the team’s current troubles.
The court case with Giedo van Garde is still ongoing, although the parties are now talking and could yet come to an agreement.
“That’s a topic I can’t say anything about,” she said when asked about the situation. “Just to make it clear I guess any questions about that I won’t be able to answer.”
Asked specifically about why both cars sat out the first session she said: “It’s a topic which I cannot talk about, that’s all I can say.”
Later however she did expand a little when asked about the impact on the team.
“It’s definitely a very negative impact on the team, because the situation was for a while unclear. We now have certain actions taken against the team, and we are acting accordingly. There’s nothing much more I can really say to that.”
She was also asked about her comments in Brazil when the multiple driver contract saga first started, and how she view it now: “We have a very clear view of what we did, we had taken action after a while, we thought about it very well, For us it as very clear. The outcome here is different, and that’s all I can say to it.”
She was also asked on several occasions about her capacity to run an F1 team, and if there were any doubts about her future.
“This whole matter doesn’t have any effect on the way we work, the way the team works.”
Thanks for bringing this story to life, Adam. Really great coverage.
I will be amazed if she survives this. If she does, the only explanation is she has “compromising pictures” of the 2/3 majority owners.
Pretty sad story, no team or driver wants to be in the news like this. I truly hope they can sort it out but I think that it’s better for her to step down if van der Garde will drive for them this season.