An Australian judge will make a decision this afternoon on whether or not the Sauber team’s equipment will be seized by the court – and team boss Monisha Kaltenborn punished either with a prison term, or a fine.
If Justice Croft decides that an offence of contempt of court had been committed – in other words that the team has not complied with the order to not do anything that would prevent Giedo van der Garde from racing – then the summons would be issued and acted upon.
The summons, addressed to Sauber Motorsport and Kaltenborn, reads as follows:
“You are summoned to attend before the Court on the hearing of an application by the Applicants for the following declarations and orders:
1. A declaration that Sauber Motorsport AG is guilty of contempt of Court as particularised in the accompanying Statement of Charge, for failure to comply with paragraph 2 of the Order of the Honourable Justice Croft made on 11 March 2015 (the 11 March Order).
2. That Monisha Kaltenborn-Narang be punished for the contempt committed by Sauber Motorsport AG, by committal to prison for a period to be determined by Court or, in the alternative, by a fine of an amount to be fixed by the Court.
3. That Stewart Alexander McCallum, Peter Damien McCluskey, James Henry Stewart and Brendan John Richards (the Sequestrators) be appointed as sequestrators of all the real and personal estate of Sauber Motorsport AG situated in the State of Victoria.
4. An order that each of the Sequestrators, or any two or more of them, are authorised and
directed to:
(a) enter upon and take possession of the real and personal estate of Sauber Motorsport AG; and
(b) collect, receive and get into their hands the rents and profits of the real and personal estate of Sauber Motorsport AG; and
(c) keep them under sequestration in their hands until Sauber Motorsport AG complies with the Order of the Honourable Justice Croft made on 11 March 2015 or until further order.
5. An order that the remuneration of the Sequestrators be such remuneration as shall be fixed by the Court.
6. The costs of this application be paid by Sauber Motorsport AG on an indemnity basis.”
Adam Cooper F1 
Does nobody else find this to be way too excessive for the circumstances???
Bob, it’s not a choice by VdG’s lawyers as to what punishment they want; contempt of Court in Victoria is punishable by up to 1 month imprisonment or a fine, which is what they have stated in declaration #2. They are using the full extent of the law to make sure that Sauber allow Giedo to race, and if Sauber and Monisha don’t want to comply then it is at their own risk.
This whole situation is not good for Sauber or F1. I really liked Sauber, but not so much after this and seeing how they have resorted to dirty tricks (allowing Giedo a seat fitting to make it look like they’ll let him race, but refusing to tell CRB that the contract is valid and thereby preventing him from getting Superlicense in time).
If the court rules that Sauber’s assets are to be seized, it will be a public embarrassment for both Sauber and F1, but only Sauber is to blame I feel.
They effectively stole millions of dollars so no, not really
It sounds drastic, but it’s probably a standard wording for enforcement of court orders where contempt of court and breach of contract is involved. The point is as much to get the person summonsed to take the matter seriously. From the sound of recent developments it’s unlikely that they’ll need to act on it.
Theater Of the Absurd at its best… or yet another example of life being stranger than fiction. Now where did I leave my popcorn?
Just wanted to say thank you for your excellent coverage of these events.
Very sad situation but one of Saubers making.
I hope it is resolved quickly with minimal hurt to the innocent parties involved.
What innocent parties? 🙂
It appears as if Team Sauber is no more.
Hopefully Maria can’t leave the country with an outstanding summons as it seems she has dragged Sauber down
Certainly, GvdG is no more!