Sauber appeal over ruling forcing them to give Giedo van der Garde a race seat

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/mar/11/sauber-giedo-van-der-garde-appeal--formula-one

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Sauber will learn on Thursday morning – just a day before practice starts for Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix – who will be driving for them in the 2015 Formula One season.

On Wednesday, the supreme court in Victoria, Australia, ruled that the Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde had the right to drive for the team. Sauber appealed against the decision, but after a 45-minute hearing Justices Simon Whelan, David Beach and Anne Ferguson decided that they would reach a decision the following morning, allowing them time to weigh up the case overnight.

Their verdict is hugely important and could even decided whether the Sauber team, who are among the great survivors of Formula One, have any future in the sport.

Van der Garde was dropped from his role as test driver at the end of last season as Sauber announced that Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr would be their drivers in 2015. Both men – particularly the Brazilian Nasr – bring in considerable sponsorship money, and the cash-strapped smaller teams are increasingly reliant on “pay drivers” to keep them going.

But Van der Garde argued that he had proof that he had been offered a race seat for the new season and an arbitration panel in Switzerland recently ordered Sauber “to refrain from taking action” that would stop him driving. That was then followed by the court case in Australia in which Justice Clyde Croft announced that he had found in favour of Van der Garde.

After that decision, Sauber’s team principal, Monisha Kaltenborn – a lawyer – said: “We are disappointed with this decision and now need to take time to understand what it means and the impact it will have on the start of our season. “What we cannot do is jeopardise the safety of our team, or any other driver on the track, by having an unprepared driver in a car that has now been tailored to two other assigned drivers.”

Van der Garde said, as he awaited the result of the appeal: “I’m looking forward to going back to the team and we’ll work hard to do our best for this weekend,” he said. “I’m the fittest ever. I’ve been training the last three months flat out.

“I still have a very good relation with the team, and I’m looking forward to racing this weekend.” When asked about the other drivers he said: “It’s up to them what they are going to do, and up to the team. It’s not my thing. I’m happy we won the case. Now I’m looking forward to getting back to business.”

If Van der Garde wins the appeal it will present Sauber with enormous difficulties. Ericsson and Nasr have contracts with the team for this year and Sauber are in desperate need of the money they bring in. They could look to pay off Van der Garde but even if they were able to find the money it is thought the 29-year-old wants to drive, which would force the team to choose between Ericsson and Nasr. Again, both drivers have contracts so that could still involve a massive compensation payment as well as the loss of sponsorship money.

Lawyers for Sauber had argued that handing Van der Garde a seat was an unacceptable safety risk because their cars had been prepared for Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. The court was told that the team’s cars had been upgraded for the 2015 racing season, from Ferrari C33s to Ferrari C34s, and were custom-designed to fit the bodies of Nasr and Ericsson.

Rodney Garratt QC said the cars were capable of reaching speeds “in excess of 300 kilometres per hour”, exposing drivers to forces of “up to five times their bodyweight”.

Mr Garratt argued on Monday that Van der Garde had no experience driving the C34s and was not covered by Sauber’s insurance. He also argued the absence of necessary parts, including the right seatbelt, would prohibit him from racing safely at such short notice.

“It would result in an unacceptable risk of physical harm or even death,” he said.

Sauber had been preparing for the new season with some optimism after an awful 2014, when they failed to win a single point and were also fire-fighting financial pressures along with most of the teams at the back end of he grid. They had gone through an encouraging testing season in Spain last month, when their Ferrari-power car put in a number of eye-catching performances. But now they are in crisis as the days count down to the start of the season.

Van der Garde drove for Caterham in 2013 and in January last year it was announced that he had joined Sauber as a reserve driver. Ericsson had a difficult debut season with Caterham last year, with a number of crashes as he tried to keep up with his more experienced team-mate Kamui Kobayashi.

Nasr, who drove five times for Williams in practice last year, is a GP2 winner who was third in that field last year. He won the British F3 title in 2011.