Giedo van der Garde wins Sauber court case

[Smartbean]

BREAKING: Appeal has been dismissed.

Meaning Sauber lost it's appeal and the judgement of the original case stands. ie. VDG should be allowed to drive. Now we have to wait and see what Sauber does. Is it going to change it's driver line up, does VDG's Superlicence going to be applied and granted in time and does he gets his seat measured in on time.

 

[Smartbean]

It seems not over yet though, both sides are back in the court room (with the same judge as on Monday and Wednesday) because VDG legal team are trying to get a enforcement order in case Sauber doesn't comply with the judgement.

They are talking about a 'freezing order' to potential sequestration of Sauber's assets and committal of its directors if the team doesn't comply.

VDG Legal team asked for a full list of Sauber's assets in Australia and the judge agrees and asks Sauber to provide a full list of assets.

Adam Cooper @adamcooperF1 · 1m1 minute ago
Court proceedings will continue tomorrow at 1030am, ie two hours before practice starts. And so the saga continues...

Adam Cooper @adamcooperF1 · 14s14 seconds ago
To clarify what's happening, @GvanderGarde has filed a Contempt of Court Application to force @SauberF1Team to comply with the order

Adam Cooper @adamcooperF1 · 3m3 minutes ago
If @SauberF1Team hasn't taken steps by 1030am Friday to comply and allow @GvanderGarde to drive, sequestration orders could follow

Adam Cooper @adamcooperF1 · 51s52 seconds ago
And then we get into potential seizing of the @SauberF1Team assets in the paddock and action against Monisha Kaltenborn as a director

Regarding the Super Licence that VDG still needs to get:

Adam Cooper @adamcooperF1 · 59m59 minutes ago
Meanwhile @GvanderGarde tells me he's pretty confident that the superlicence can be fast tracked. He's been in touch with the Dutch ASN

And from http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/03/12/sauber-lose-appeal-against-van-der-garde?

Formula One racing director Charlie Whiting told reporters that Van der Garde could not race without a super-license but a day before Friday practice, would not rule out his ability to get one.

"All I'm saying is that there are procedures that are dealt with through the team, through the ASN (national sporting authority) of the driver concerned and the FIA in Geneva," Whiting said.

"The safety department in Geneva deal with that."

And from http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/1...r-court-rules-giedo-van-der-garde-should-race

It's understood that Van der Garde doesn't currently possess the mandatory FIA superlicence which all drivers must hold if they are to participate in an official F1 session.

“During court proceedings Sauber’s lawyer said it would take two weeks to obtain such a licence for van der Garde and therefore it wasn’t practical for him to race here, " confirmed Slater. "Van der Garde’s lawyers say a temporary licence can obtained in a matter of hours, maybe a day or so and sources within the FIA have backed that up.

 

[Nox]

@Smartbean thanks for all the updates, it really helps to follow along right here on RD

 

[Ho3n3r]

Damn. This is getting silly now. Sauber should just let him drive this weekend, and try to enforce some performance clause as soon as possible. He's not that talented, so it might happen sooner than they think. And he might even crash out on his own in Melbourne if they're lucky.

Not that I agree with Sauber with this one - obviously Van der Garde is totally within his rights, and if they had enough money, the obvious thing to do, would've been to disobey the last signed contract.

Seriously, what did they think will happen? Sign 4 race contracts for 2 driving seats, and hope Sutil and Van der Garde just "forget" that they're employed for 2015? Scratching my head at the logic.

 

[Smartbean]

@Smartbean thanks for all the updates, it really helps to follow along right here on RD

Thanks but don't forget @Ole Marius Myrvold he provided most of the stuff though

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

What a mess, can't for the life of me think of a happy outcome for this clusterfart.
And if Sauber let's him drive will he just stroll into the paddock as if nothing has happened? If so he's got a stronger stomach than I do, I would not feel welcome after all this.

 

[Ho3n3r]

What a mess, can't for the life of me think of a happy outcome for this clusterfart.
And if Sauber let's him drive will he just stroll into the paddock as if nothing has happened? If so he's got a stronger stomach than I do, I would not feel welcome after all this.

It's not his cockup. He's got nothing to feel guilty about.

 

[Kjell Eilertsen]

It's not his cockup. He's got nothing to feel guilty about.

Agreed, but I don't need to feel guilty to feel unwelcome, it's two very different things.

 

[Yuri]

Yes I know I wouldn't be all happy about driving for a team that tried to prevent me to come into the team in court. Going to be a bit awkward

 

[Stefan Woudenberg]

I wonder if we will see VDG on the grid this sunday.... If not, there might be no Sauber car at all.

Sauber may go bankrupt and GDV father in law buys the team.....

When Peter Sauber was leading the team I thought it was a nice team, but now with that dragon leading..... I wouldn't care less. Too bad for the people who have to work under her....

 

[Ho3n3r]

Agreed, but I don't need to feel guilty to feel unwelcome, it's two very different things.

If Sauber make a guy that they chose to contract in the first place, feel guilty because they couldn't make sound business decisions, then maybe they're not professional enough any more to remain in F1.

I'm pretty sure once he gets in the car, they will do their best to accommodate him.

 

[TTupsi]

Also, I'm sure vdG has lots of friends and sympathy in the Sauber team. He was part of the team last season already so he knows the people. I think it's mostly Monish and other leading personnel that might be "against him". I don't think the race engineers or mechanics would see Giedo as the badboy in this situation.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Maybe Sauber should just do the weekend like they were a WEC team. When they pit, swap Ericcson out and put VDG in the car

 

[the_sigman]

Maybe Sauber should just do the weekend like they were a WEC team. When they pit, swap Ericcson out and put VDG in the car

Or get a two seater for Nasr and Ericsson. Driver to be decided by Rock-Paper-Scissors.

 

[Shane Butler]

Maybe Sauber should just do the weekend like they were a WEC team. When they pit, swap Ericcson out and put VDG in the car

Or get a two seater for Nasr and Ericsson. Driver to be decided by Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Or this might be a better option..

 

[Smartbean]

Hmm in anticipation of tonights/friday mornings Contempt of Court Application hearing, this article from TheJudge13 http://thejudge13.com/2015/03/12/saubers-options/ states that Giedo still holds a valid "FIA class A competition license", which does allow him to participate in FP1 (maybe FP2 as well?). Only to participate in qualifying and the race he would need the full Super License.

So Sauber could already comply with the court order even though he hasn't got his Super License yet, but the complete silence for the Sauber camp suggests that they are deliberately doing nothing and thus preventing Giedo from participating. I think Justice Croft is going to make mince meat from Sauber tonight.

 

[Smartbean]

VDG seems to be at the Paddock of the Melbourne track.

Adam Cooper @adamcooperF1 · 15m15 minutes ago
'@GvanderGarde has his paddock pass and is at the track this morning. He might be chased by a few photographers and TV crews...

And as the Contempt Court Application Hearing is minutes away, Sauber seems to ask the FIA for a driver substitute:
iRacer ‏@iRacerOfficial 1m1 minute ago
Sauber F1 are in communications with the @fia to apply for a driver change in accordance with todays court rulings

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

VDG seems to be at the Paddock of the Melbourne track.

Yup, and another round in court atm.

Adam Cooper @adamcooperF1 · 5m5 minutes ago
Back in court for the latest episode - it's just starting

Adam Cooper @adamcooperF1 · 3m3 minutes ago
'@GvanderGarde lawyer says @SauberF1Team confirmed last night that it terminated contract lawfully and won't tell CRB otherwise...

Meanwhile

Tobias Grüner AMuS @tgruener · 2m2 minutes ago
#F1 Van der Garde right now is doing his seat fitting behind the closed garage door using Ericssons car. #AMuS

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

I'm also leaving this here.
Fast Forward to 1.18 an hear Nico Hülkenberg say " "I'm not surprised, I know the people (........) Still I think it's not the way to do business and screw people like this"
And some more!"

 

[Smartbean]

Adam Cooper @adamcooperF1 · 3m3 minutes ago
'@GvanderGarde lawyer says @SauberF1Team confirmed last night that it terminated contract lawfully and won't tell CRB otherwise...

This on it's own proves that Sauber is preventing GVDG to get his Super License in time, thus they are in violation of the order to "refrain from any action that would prevent GVDG from racing". Therefore, they should be in contempt.