Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn says the negativity surrounding Formula One makes it difficult for teams to attract new sponsors.

Sauber has struggled financially in the past few seasons and has been late paying its staff on several occasions this year due to cashflow problems. Earlier this season Kaltenborn, a long-time advocate of a budget cap, said the team's financial difficulties in a series as wealthy as Formula One highlighted what is "fundamentally wrong" with the sport.

This season saw several weeks of confusion and controversy over the qualifying format and Kaltenborn thinks that is a reason Sauber has struggled to find new sponsors.

"It's very difficult, you know, because first of all things take their time and you can't push more than you are," Kaltenborn told F1i. "And the environment in which people have to invest in here is not an ideal environment.

"With all the negativities which go around this sport -- which are so unnecessary in a way -- with a certain lack of stability, how even rules are done at the last minute and again they are being criticised before they are even in place, this all doesn't help."

Sauber's troubles were highlighted once again after the Spanish Grand Prix when it missed the two days of testing in Barcelona the following week, due to the fact it did not have a team update to bring and no young driver who met the requirements for the test.

It has also lost two key members of staff, technical director Mark Smith in March and head of track engineering Tim Maylon in April. Despite those setbacks Kaltenborn insists the team has found a way of working within the current constraints.

"I don't know if it's easier or not, you just unfortunately get used to some things and people focus then on the right things I guess and not being frustrated about it, because you know what the situation is. That I think is a very important step that when you are working your way up again you have a different mindset."

Last year Sauber and Force India lodged a complaint to the European Union about the governance and payment structure of Formula One.