Sauber taken over by Switzerland-based finance group

Felipe Nasr was 12th at the European Grand Prix in Baku in June, equalling Sauber's best performance of the season to date

Struggling Sauber have been taken over by a Swiss finance group.

Longbow Finance has bought out the Sauber Holding Group, of which the Formula 1 team are a part.

The takeover ends a lot of the uncertainty over the future of the Swiss team, who have been struggling with financial issues for some years.

Founder Peter Sauber, who was chairman, has retired, but Monisha Kaltenborn remains chief executive officer. The team name will also stay.

"We are very pleased we can secure the future of Sauber at the pinnacle of motorsport," said Kaltenborn.

"We are convinced that Longbow Finance is the perfect partner to again make the team competitive and successful in F1."

Sauber entered F1 in 1993, in partnership with Mercedes, after a successful career in sportscars.

Mercedes decided two years later to join McLaren, starting a partnership that endured until 2014, following the founding of the car company's own F1 team.

Sauber, based in Hinwil, near Zurich, went it alone as a privateer until it was bought out by BMW in June 2005.

The German car giant subsequently quit F1 at the end of 2009.

Although founder Sauber stepped in to keep alive the team who bear his name, their existence since then has been precarious.

"I am very happy that my courageous investment to buy the team back, which I made six years ago with the intention to secure the base in Hinwil and the place in F1, has proved to be correct," he said.

In more than two decades in the sport, Sauber have won one grand prix, with Poland's Robert Kubica in Canada in 2008.

Sauber lie last of 11 teams in the constructors' championship this season, with a best result of 12th place - achieved three times.

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