FIA has to take action over F1 crisis, says Sauber's Kaltenborn

In the wake of Caterham and Marussia's absence from the grid, Kaltenborn is in no doubt about the seriousness of the situation F1 is facing right now.

"I think I am beyond the stage of frustration," she said ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

"I am first of all very disappointed, because it is one thing to always talk about this terrible scenario that some teams are not going to be there. But that the sport as such and the people responsible for the sport have let it come this far is extremely disturbing.

"I think some stakeholders or people are just not willing to understand where the problems lie."

Kaltenborn believes it is up to the FIA to address the situation and suggests that the governing body should go as far as putting pressure on F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone to change the way the sport's finances are structured.

"For me it is the duty of our federation to take some action," she said. "This is a sport under their ruling.

"They have outsourced the commercial aspects to it which is fairly normal. But we are a part of the FIA. We are under their governance and this can be very much part of the governance.

"It is for the FIA to see if something has been done that is damaging the sport. And that is very much the responsibility of the FIA."

When asked what could be achieved to change the way F1's prize structure works, since this is laid out in individual deals between Ecclestone and the teams, she said: "There is no contract that you cannot change, and what is a contract worth when you see what is happening to the sport?

"The way we are going, it is definitely going to harm the income at some point of time."

She believes F1 will have a very short future if nothing is done quickly to address grand prix racing's current problems.

"I don't think the way it is will last for many years to come," she said. "We have also seen in the past that manufacturers come and go.

"What are you then left with, with your product? That's why I think it is particularly for the owners of the sport to think about what's happening to the product."