Sauber appoints female MD

London - Austrian Monisha Kaltenborn will take over the day-to-day running of the Sauber F1 team as managing director, founder and principal Peter Sauber announced on Friday.

A team spokesman said he believed Kaltenborn, 38, was the first woman to be appointed to such a senior position by a F1 team. She had previously been a board member and head of legal affairs.

Sauber will remain as principal of the Swiss-based team, attending all the races, but will hand over operational duties at the Hinwil factory to a management team that includes his son Alex.