A Brazilian F1 correspondent claims Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson crashed deliberately into his teammate during the Monaco grand prix.
Team boss Monisha Kaltenborn, who is struggling to keep the team alive financially, said both Ericsson and Felipe Nasr had shown "unacceptable behaviour" leading up to the crash.
It was Swede Ericsson who was punished by the stewards, but Brazil’s Globo claims Kaltenborn actually apportions "100 per cent" of the blame to Nasr, after he repeatedly ignored radio instructions to let his teammate past.
And in a subsequent report by correspondent Rafael Lopes, the same Brazilian outlet cited a source that is ’very close’ to the Swiss team in revealing that Ericsson actually admitted behind closed doors in Monaco that he had punted Nasr off deliberately.
Monaco was a rare paddock appearance in 2016 for team co-owner and boss Kaltenborn, who has been spending more time elsewhere and at the Hinwil factory on plans to end Sauber’s financial problems.
"Yes, we have certain challenges and we are working very hard to overcome the situation," she said. "I’m confident that we’ll resolve it shortly."
Confirming rumours that talks with potential new partners are taking place, Kaltenborn added: "Yes, we’ve been working on that for a while now - we know that we need it.
"If you look at today’s environment, to be strong as an independent team in formula one you need to have a strong partners. So we have always been open to that and now we are pursuing our chances and we hope to resolve it soon."