The Sauber Van der Garde Dilemna

[truefan72]

http://en.espnf1.com/sauber/motorspo...ry/193755.html

So the court ruling is coming Down on Wednesday

Here's my 2 cents.
I think GVdG has a legitimate case to be made (as does sutil btw) and we shall see what the court rules.
It is a rather odd situation though if he wins, because it would be interesting to see if the seat is actually given to him or they just pay him, but let him pine away.
From GVdG situation, it must be rather odd to insist on driving for a team that doesn't want you. Unless he is simply looking for a financial compensation.
A swiss court already ruled in his favor.

Now to the bigger issue at hand, This situation and the way Sauber has gone about their business epitomizes the worst of these midfield teams.
I understand that money is an important, if not overwhelming part of the sport, but 2 pay drivers is a bit much. And yes they hare pay drivers.
All they have assured themselves is to stay in limbo because neither of these drivers is going to do anything for them.
So they have the money, but will not get the results, meaning it is just going to be downward spiral for them.
No results means no prize money or a much lower amount, which means they need more money to stay afloat , which means they need a bigger dollar value pay driver, and so the cycle continues.

to me a sutil/Van de Garde lineup is much stronger than an erricson/nasre lineup, and with a half decent car will probably get a few points here and there.
Even just keeping one or the other would benefit Sauber more than two pay drivers.
And finally, from a business standpoint, it just makes the team less attractive to potential drivers as well as sponsors with this kind of messy management

[Bagwan]

They've come out saying that it would be foolish to put him in the car , using words like "dangerous" and even "death" , so , don't expect him to drive .

It's just another symptom of the disease .
I can't imagine the pressures involved with them going for the drivers they chose , but it does seem pretty obvious that at least one experienced driver would have been preferable .

To have it end up looking as "messy" as it does , it must have been life or death for the team .


There's a long debate about how some pay drivers have come good , but the term is still generally used with a liberal amount of disdain , as it's assumed there are others who could serve better .
And , nothing serves better than a public display of desperation like this , to show that the sport needs a real overhaul , just to keep the wheels on the track .

In a really screwed up way , Sauber is doing the sport a favour , displaying the dirty laundry for all to see what must be done to stay afloat .

[driveace]

It would be much better if drivers were chosen on ability rather than how much CASH they can afford !
but then in life the guy with the most dosh gets the Rolls Royce and the guy with little or no dosh gets the Corsa

[Rollo]

F1 driver Giedo van der Garde's application successful, full judgment will be posted and made available @F1 @ausgrandprix @SauberF1Team
- Supreme Court of Vic, via Twitter (@SCVSupremeCourt), 11th Mar 2015

[anfield5]

This is really odd. If GvdG has a formal signed contract, then he has a contract that legally should be binding, ergo he should be driving. If it is only a verbal agreement, then sorry Geido.

What happens now? If he has won the caes (as it appears) will Sauber have to kick Ericsson or Nasr aside? What of their contracts? If Sauber are forced to take GvdG on as a driver how can they possibly work together? Can Sauber get around things by letting him drive in Aus, then firing him because he isn't up to the job before Malaysia?

or... is GvdG simply after a payout from a nearly broke F1 team?

[CNR]

http://www.9news.com.au/national/201...rand-prix-fate

F1 driver wins bid to drive in Melb GP
Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/201...leW1AYQzecM.99

[The Black Knight]

http://www.9news.com.au/national/201...rand-prix-fate

F1 driver wins bid to drive in Melb GP
Read more at http://www.9news.com.au/national/201...leW1AYQzecM.99

Yeah, I've been following this with quite interest. I'm a vehement supporter of VdG in this case. I strongly believe that if you sign a contract you should have to keep to the T&C's of it unless both parties mutually agree a separation clause after signature. In this case, I'm afraid for Sauber, that they signed the contract which has now been legally upheld in both a Swiss and Australian court.Now they will find themsevles in the situation that, because Nasr and Ericsson both hold a contract as well, both those drivers may take them to court and win. They will have to pay off the drivers or run a third car. This is a mess of Sauber's own doing and that's it. I've no sympathy for them and I'm delighted that VdG won the case.

Also, this notion of safety being a concern is absolute rubbish. F1 drivers often move into cars at short notice. It's not like tomorrow morning is going to be the first lap of his career. What a desperate argument on Sauber's side. They know their Goose is cooked.

[AndyL]

From the story CNR linked to: "Giedo van der Garde won a court decision to force F1 team Sauber to reinstate him after they dumped him..."

This all seems very strange to me. For a court to order specific performance as a remedy in a dispute such as this sounds highly unusual. You might expect an order for specific performance in a case over transfer of ownership of some unique item, but in an employment dispute?
Of course it's possible that the media is simply doing its usual crap job of reporting the actual facts when it comes to the law or science.

[truefan72]

Yeah, I've been following this with quite interest. I'm a vehement supporter of VdG in this case. I strongly believe that if you sign a contract you should have to keep to the T&C's of it unless both parties mutually agree a separation clause after signature. In this case, I'm afraid for Sauber, that they signed the contract which has now been legally upheld in both a Swiss and Australian court.Now they will find themsevles in the situation that, because Nasr and Ericsson both hold a contract as well, both those drivers may take them to court and win. They will have to pay off the drivers or run a third car. This is a mess of Sauber's own doing and that's it. I've no sympathy for them and I'm delighted that VdG won the case.

Also, this notion of safety being a concern is absolute rubbish. F1 drivers often move into cars at short notice. It's not like tomorrow morning is going to be the first lap of his career. What a desperate argument on Sauber's side. They know their Goose is cooked.

I agree completely

[Mia 01]

I don´t Think he will drive for Sauber in Melbourne.