The Sauber Van der Garde Dilemna

[CNR]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118116
""There has been a lot of speculation in the media over the past week, so I want to set out clearly that my sponsors paid the sponsorship fee related to the 2015 season in its entirety to Sauber in the first half of 2014.

"This was simply in good faith and to help the team deal with its cash problems at the time. Effectively, it was my sponsor's advanced payments that helped the team survive in 2014.
"

[Doc Austin]

From the description of the circumstances I heard, it sounds like she's running something akin to a racing Ponzi scheme over there.

It's very disappointing. As this unfolded I really didn't want to believe Sauber was wrong, but it appears they simply sold VDG's seat right out from under him.

If I have the numbers correct, VDG paid something like $8 million for the ride, and the settlement was something like $15 million. VDG is walking off with another $7 than he started with, so he could easily turn that into a season of Indycar. Then again, with that kind of money in hand it would be hard not to run down to Cosumel for a couple of years of hookers, Tequilla and blow.

While we are talking numbers, why would Sauber pay $15 million to settle an $8 million dispute? My guess is that they hosed the other two drivers down for more money, and that squeezed VDG out because he was cheapest to get rid of. Still, what kind of sense does it make to keep the money for a year and only have to pay it back nearly double? Maybe this kind of math is what got Sauber in such money trouble to begin with.

With this finally settled hopefully Sauber can have a decent year. If you set everything else aside, it is hard not to cheer for Nasr after the blistering race he had this weekend, and even Ericson looked reasonably decent. They could easily have a banner year and pull themselves back into decent shape.

Finally, formula One used to have a contracts recognition board that ruled on these sort of things. As far as I can tell, they still do, but through this whole thing there was never any mention of it. I wonder if this was such a stickey mess that the FIA just opted to stay out of it. Formula One needs to be above this sort of thing.

[TheFamousEccles]

Word!

[Jag_Warrior]

Don't get me wrong... I was very happy to see Nasr do so much better than I expected. He proved himself to be much sounder than I'd given him credit for.

And Doc, the numbers you saw are in the same range as the ones I've seen. I have no idea if the amount going to Giedo includes his legal fees, but she'll get stuck with those too, I'm sure... in addition to the fees for her own lawyers. If this was a financial move on her part, looks like she wound up paying about 100% interest for the use of his money. So while she had use of some needed money last year, she now has to pay it back times two this year. I doubt any Fortune 500 companies are going to put her on their short list for a CFO position.

I like Peter Sauber. I've liked him since his Sauber-Mercedes days at Le Mans. I just wish he'd take his team back from this charlatan before she totally ruins his reputation and the goodwill he's built up over the years.

[Bruce D]

Then again, with that kind of money in hand it would be hard not to run down to Cosumel for a couple of years of hookers, Tequilla and blow.

It's funny you say that when in this whole saga I've been thinking it's like Sauber have prostituted their seats to the highest bidder.

Finally, formula One used to have a contracts recognition board that ruled on these sort of things. As far as I can tell, they still do, but through this whole thing there was never any mention of it.

Adam Cooper mentions it in his article here http://adamcooperf1.com/2015/03/12/n...izure-of-cars/

[airshifter]

Stranger things have happened. Though it doesn't make sense to most of us and obviously has to do with money, if the team wants to survive they have to do what they have to do. It could well be that buying out the contract VDG had was the only thing keeping them financially viable,

Life obviously got a lot tougher for the team after losing BMW money and really in the past one of the things the team had benefited from was solid drivers. With costs going crazy due to changes in regs being almost constant in recent years, I think they have done well to hold their own. If you look back in the Ferrari years before they went to BMW, the team wasn't performing much better than they are now in an era of some big teams (Lotus, Mercedes, McLaren, etc) struggling so much with development rules that some cars barely run at season start.

I hope the Nasr form continues, and can lift them to a solid season. The single year that Kimi drove for the team (along with quick Nick) was the best finnish the team had with Ferrari power. When you look at the BMW powered years, sure they did better, but among the drivers they could afford to pay for are now two WDCs, Heidfeld, and Kubica. Big money and talent brought them results.


Although I don't like all the drama over the VDG seat, it appears to have been settled out of the courts. I really don't quite understand why people view Kaltenborn as such an evil. This is Formula 1 and we've had teams give car plans to other teams, dictated spins for race fixing, blatant team orders when they were banned. espionage on a huge level, and protests on just about any change known to man. After all that has happened in recent years, I just fail to see Monisha as the pure evil in F1.

[The Black Knight]

Stranger things have happened. Though it doesn't make sense to most of us and obviously has to do with money, if the team wants to survive they have to do what they have to do. It could well be that buying out the contract VDG had was the only thing keeping them financially viable,

Life obviously got a lot tougher for the team after losing BMW money and really in the past one of the things the team had benefited from was solid drivers. With costs going crazy due to changes in regs being almost constant in recent years, I think they have done well to hold their own. If you look back in the Ferrari years before they went to BMW, the team wasn't performing much better than they are now in an era of some big teams (Lotus, Mercedes, McLaren, etc) struggling so much with development rules that some cars barely run at season start.

I hope the Nasr form continues, and can lift them to a solid season. The single year that Kimi drove for the team (along with quick Nick) was the best finnish the team had with Ferrari power. When you look at the BMW powered years, sure they did better, but among the drivers they could afford to pay for are now two WDCs, Heidfeld, and Kubica. Big money and talent brought them results.


Although I don't like all the drama over the VDG seat, it appears to have been settled out of the courts. I really don't quite understand why people view Kaltenborn as such an evil. This is Formula 1 and we've had teams give car plans to other teams, dictated spins for race fixing, blatant team orders when they were banned. espionage on a huge level, and protests on just about any change known to man. After all that has happened in recent years, I just fail to see Monisha as the pure evil in F1.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I reckon it is because most people here are with me when I say there isn't enough protection for employees of a company and most at one time or the other have probably wanted to take their employer to court. Here I guess they see an employee who did everything by the book and got fucked over by an employer. This is certainly the way I look at it and I would have had no problem with Sauber being made a sample of really. As for Monisha, they essentially committed to a contract took money and didn't hold up their end of the bargagain, so, to me, that is tantamount to fraud and I think she deserved to go to jail and VdG deserved to get his seat.But they ahve gotten away with it by the skin of their teeth from the looks of it.

[Mia 01]

I´m glad that Marcus still got his drive, that my only take on this dreadful story. And, I Think he will score some Moore Points for Sauber!

[airshifter]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I reckon it is because most people here are with me when I say there isn't enough protection for employees of a company and most at one time or the other have probably wanted to take their employer to court. Here I guess they see an employee who did everything by the book and got fucked over by an employer. This is certainly the way I look at it and I would have had no problem with Sauber being made a sample of really. As for Monisha, they essentially committed to a contract took money and didn't hold up their end of the bargagain, so, to me, that is tantamount to fraud and I think she deserved to go to jail and VdG deserved to get his seat.But they ahve gotten away with it by the skin of their teeth from the looks of it.

Though I speak from experience only in the US, in most of the modern world if a person gets screwed by an employer it's only because they allowed it. Employee rights are plentiful in the modern western world, and if people don't roll over, it's fairly hard for a company to really shaft someone.

In this case, most likely VDG would have been a contractor legally which is another whole set of rules. I hold contracts on a number of people that work for the company I'm employed by, and they can be terminated at will legally. We make it policy to treat them more like regular employees, but in the state I live a regular employee can be terminated at any time without cause. That may give the former employee rights to collect unemployment, etc but it's still legal.

If people want a 100% guarantee of steady income and no chance of losing a job, they should work for themselves and find out why at times people have to be let go. If business was that easy nobody would want to work for someone else and share the profits of their work. If a person went to jail every time they didn't perform for their income, the world would need many more jail cells. Both employees and contractors screw people on a regular basis, so there has to be protection for both sides of the relationship.


And being that the entire settlement took place out of the courts, I'd hardly say anyone got off by the skin of their teeth, was facing jail time, etc. Without knowing the details of the contract, nobody can really pass judgement other than the courts who deal with such contract, and I haven't seen any assets being seized, or arrests being made.

[Bagwan]

As I understand it , both sides of this could have handled it better .

Giedo's side knew Sauber had named two other guys , and knew why , but chose to dig in , rather than look elsewhere , with , potentially , a buyout of the contract in his pocket .
And , one might imagine that they were likely informed that , to keep the seat , they could come up with an amount greater than either Nasr or Ericsson could provide .

It would , for sure , feel like a simple shake-down move to Van der Garde , and it's little wonder the episode ended in a payout , but , sadly , it won't make him look any more employable in the paddock .

Negotiations should have taken place a long time ago , or , at least in the background , like the Sutil case .

Giedo is talking a little much about it , I fear , as Sauber has mentioned that they have answers to many questions , but will keep them confidential , as was agreed .
That is likely a direct reference to Giedo speaking publicly earlier , which was apparently one reason they believed his contract may already have been voided by Giedo , himself .


It's never simple , and it's always expensive .