Sauber F1 team get Russian financial boost

'Yaznaioo Ruski Yazik'. Russians and other speakers of the language may find this attempt to write 'I know Russian' amusing - at worst, offensive, for which autoX apologizes in advance - but it could well be one of the most commonly used phrases at the Hinwil, Switzerland headquarters of the Sauber F1 team.

The independent Swiss team, which bares the name of its founder Peter Sauber, announced a partnership with three Russian organizations today.

The Formula 1 World Championship will touch down in Russia for the first time next year when the Russian Grand Prix will be held at the Sochi street circuit, which is located in the coastal city's Olympic Park.

The announcement should mean a fairly significant financial boost for the team that lost key technical staff along with Mexico's Sergio Perez who impressed with strong podium finishes last year before joining McLaren from 2013.

Perez's two second place finishes in the Malaysian and Italian Grands Prix were particularly impressive as he showed an ability to use his tyres economically for most of the race before putting on a turn of speed at the end. In both races, Perez looked fast enough to win.

However, his departure from the team caused doubt about the team's long-term financial backing as Perez expressed a desire for personal sponsor Telmex (Mezico's largest fixed-line telephone service provider) to tie up as the title sponsor at McLaren once the British team's deal with Vodafone runs its course at the end of this year.

The team also lost the services of technical director James Key and another of their leading staff members (Matt Morris) is set to join McLaren as engineering director at the end of this year's championship.

The announcement of the tie up with Russia's Investment Cooperation International Fund, The State Fund of Development of North-West Russian Federation and the National Institute of Aviation Technologies means signifies a possible change in the team's financial and even technical fortunes.

The arrival of Nico Hulkenberg from Force India has, so far, been negated by the team not being able to develop its C32 championship challenger.

The team currently has a total of seven points after nine races in the constructors' championship. Sauber had scored 14 points in the first race of last season alone and after nine races in 2012 had a tally of 62 points.

In addition to the sponsorship and technical deals, the team will also participate in promotional activities for the Russian GP as well as 'prepare' Russian racing driver Sergey Sirotkin to compete for the team in the 2014 season.