Sauber: Losing youngsters is a drain

Raikkonen was one of the revelations of the 2001 season with the Sauber team, but the 22-year-old was snatched up by McLaren as a replacement for the sabbatical-bound Mika Hakkinen.

Sauber believes that losing his star driver will have an unsettling effect on his Swiss team as it attempts to hold onto its fourth place in the constructors' championship next year.

"It is true that the big teams also want the best drivers," said Sauber. "Obviously you don't want to see your drivers being poached - it unsettles the team and it is a draining experience, as we saw with Kimi Raikkonen."

Despite his disappointment at losing Raikkonen, Sauber was quick to point out that there was little he could do to match the bright lights at McLaren.

"At first, I was obviously against Kimi leaving. However, you cannot hold on to a driver once he has made up his mind to leave. The chance to drive with a world championship team next year turned Kimi's head. But although the negotiations with McLaren Mercedes were tough, it was all done by the book."

Raikkonen will be replaced by rising star Felipe Massa next year, and while the young Brazilian is tipped to do great things, Sauber insists that the pair cannot be compared.

"He [Massa] coped extremely well with the challenging circuit in Mugello [during testing]," said Sauber. "Massa comes from the same school as Kimi, but you can't compare the two. Kimi is as cool as the northern climate of his home country Finland, Massa has a South American temperament."

Sauber's small Swiss team beat other better-funded teams, such as the Honda-powered duo of Jordan and British American Racing, to fourth place in the standings this year. However, he does not expect to have an easy time staying there in 2002.

"The next stage is to consolidate our position in fourth place," he added. "That will be extremely tough. Next year, there will be four teams competing with us for the spot behind the leading trio: the two Honda teams - Jordan and BAR - and the works teams of Jaguar and Renault. These four are under great pressure. They will be pulling out all the stops to overtake us."