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Van der Garde drive would be 'safety risk' - Sauber

Published on 09 Mar 2015 11:48
2
By: Rob Veenstra

Sauber has argued that letting Giedo van der Garde race in Melbourne would be a safety risk. On Monday, Dutch driver van der Garde's case against the Swiss team was heard by the supreme court in Melbourne.

Both sides acknowledge that the 29-year-old has a valid contract to race this year, but Sauber signed the higher-paying Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr instead as the Hinwil based team struggled for financial survival. Sauber is therefore fighting van der Garde's bid to race in 2015, starting with Sunday's season opener in Australia.

The team's lawyer told the Melbourne court on Monday that allowing the Dutchman to race this weekend would be dangerous because the C34 car is designed only for the bodies of Ericsson and Nasr. Ericsson and Nasr were both present in court, as was van der Garde.

The Sauber lawyer said the 2015 Sauber reaches speeds "in excess of 300kph", exposing its occupants to forces of "up to five times their bodyweight". "Mr Van der Garde has no experience driving the C34 Ferrari and would not have sufficient time to learn," Rodney Garratt QC told the judge, according to The Australian newspaper.

Sauber has also said it does not even have the right seatbelt in Melbourne for van der Garde, making it "reckless and dangerous" to let him drive, the lawyer told the judge, according to local broadcaster ABC. "It (letting him race) would result in an unacceptable risk of physical harm or even death" not just for van der Garde but also spectators, Garratt reportedly said.

The judge is yet to rule. Before the hearing, van der Garde and his management declined to comment, according to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

Sauber team boss Monisha Kaltenborn also told the Swiss newspaper Blick it was "inappropriate to comment". "But we will do everything to defend the interests of Sauber. We have a difficult year behind us, but have made every effort to create a good situation for 2015," she said. (GMM)

F1 News Felipe Nasr Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari

Replies (2)

khasmir

Posts: 893
If Sauber admits that van der Garde had a valid contract then he has them pretty much by the balls, no? Sounds very unlikely that he is ever going to race for Sauber again, but they will need to compensate him. Same for Sutil.
I guess this shows what a signed contract with Sauber really means...
I'm sure we don't have all the facts but this sounds very weak from Sauber. What were they thinking signing 4 drivers if you only have room for 2.
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- Mar 9 2015 - 18:16
BtwnDitches

Posts: 204
Pretty clearly, Sauber was banking on the gamesmanship & "wink-wink'ing" that has been occuring more frequently of late whenever some high-priced driver wanted to adjust alliegences, contract or no contract. Even Monisha - as a trained lawyer - thought that she could get away with this, by pleading penury as a reason for displacing "committed" drivers with smaller cash sponsorships.

Nice try. He won't drive, but Vander der Garde will take some of Sauber's money for the insult. And as 1/3 owner of the team, that will hit Monisha squarely in the purse.
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- Mar 10 2015 - 02:44