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General Editor, F1
Sauber and team boss Monisha Kaltenborn have parted company, the team confirmed on Wednesday.
The news was leaked earlier in the day before Sauber chairman Pascal Picci released a statement on behalf of the team's owners, Longbow Finance.
"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," Picci said. "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."
Kaltenborn was made the team's CEO in 2010 and became a part-owner the following season after buying shares. In 2012 she became Formula One's first female team principal -- a role she held up until Wednesday.
After years of battling through financial struggles, Sauber secured backing from Longbow Finance last year, a deal seen as securing the team's long-term future on the grid. The deal saw team founder Peter Sauber retire and Kaltenborn relinquish her shares in the company, but retain her leadership role of the team.
A second statement was issued by Picci on Wednesday denying speculation that the split had come about because Longbow had wanted to offer preference to Marcus Ericsson over Pascal Wehrlein.
"The owners and board of Sauber Motorsport AG take strong exception to speculative and widespread media reports today that our race drivers have not been, and are not being, treated equally. This is not only patently untrue, it would be contrary to the team's absolute and longstanding commitment to fair competition. These reports, attributed to anonymous "sources", are highly detrimental to both Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein as well as to the management and all staff of the Sauber F1 Team."