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Sergey Sirotkin's preparation for F1 2014 pleasing Sauber but no 'pressure' on driver

Swiss outfit also mulling option of having an experienced reserve driver

Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn says the team are "still convinced" that teenager Sergey Sirotkin will still be ready to graduate to F1 next year, but insists the Russian's participation in 2014 is not a pre-requisite of their partnership with a consortium of companies from his country.

Should Sirotkin not be deemed ready to make his F1 bow come the start of the season, Kaltenborn revealed that Sauber are considering hiring a more experienced reserve driver as a back-up option. "This is something which we also look at. We have several options which combine very different aspects with different drivers involved," the Team Principal admitted. "So this is definitely also an option we look at." However, following reports that former Renault and Caterham driver Vitaly Petrov - Russia's first F1 driver - could be poised for a test, or even race, role at the team in place of Sirotkin to satisfy their new backers, Kaltenborn, who was seen chatting to the driver at the Sochi demonstration, insisted: "Whoever was in Sochi saw that we were both there and since we do know each other we also spoke to each other, but that's it. Nothing more. "I haven't spoken to him about his availability. I did ask him to be very open about what he's doing and then he told me about his trip to Mount Everest. That's what we spoke about!"

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