The three court of appeal judges have dismissed Sauber’s appeal against the judgement made on Wednesday in favour of Giedo van der Garde – but the saga is far from over.
In confirming the dismissal Justice Whelan said it was “because we see no error in the reasons of the trial judge.”
The court action did not end there as Giedo van der Garde’s lawyers immediately launched another action in order to force the team to comply. This was a Contempt of Court Application, which in essence refers to the fact that the team has not yet complied with the order to allow Van der Garde to race, or taken any steps to make it happen.
The contempt action will now be heard by Justice Croft – who dealt with the original case – at 1030am on Friday, just two hours before practice is due to start. If he deems that Sauber is in contempt by not complying with the ruling, a sequestration order will probably follow. This could lead to the seizure of Sauber’s assets in Australia, in other words the equipment it has in the paddock.
As a starting point the judge agreed to a request from van der Garde’s lawyer to provide a full and detailed list of that equipment, and its location, by later tonight.
In addition there could be action against Monisha Kaltenborn as a director of the company. Van der Garde’s lawyer even hinted in dramatic fashion that it could lead to prison – and then added that would be a last resort.
He also explained at length how the Van der Garde camp had made a series of requests to Sauber – relating to the driver’s passes, his overalls and so on – and none of it had been complied with.
He also referred to a press release issued by Sauber yesterday in which Kaltenborn raised safety concerns, saying that it was “clearly calculated to make it difficult for our client to participate.”
Adam Cooper's F1 Blog 
Can you clarify who’s responsibility it is to apply for the super license? different statements between yourself and Joe Saward
We’ve had different views since I first worked with him at Autosport in 1985!
hope Giedo dident hawe any hope of ever driving for another team cus i cant see any team that would be willing to risk ther cars and stuff.
I’m gonna laugh if Kaltenborn , a lawyer, is found to be in contempt. 😄😄 this is the best laugh I have had since Max got caught with his bare bottom being spanked.
Sent from my iPhone
I love it!
What a mess Monisha Kaltenborn got the Sauber team into. That would never have happen with Peter Sauber. We know Marcus Ericsson sponsors paid a huge amount money upfront, so it probably be Carlos Sainz jr. who will be without drive. He can then go to court for the breaking of his contract.
What a mess. Feel sorry for the drivers – all 3 of them.
Carlos Sainz? Guy is racing with Torro Rosso and didn’t have to pay a cent!
🙂 Nasr of course
I know you mean Felipe Nassr but his sponsors Banco do Brasil got previlege of getting their colors to inspire the team’s livery. You don’t pay peanuts to get such overt advertisement. I don’t know how much Ericsson paid but I doubt very mush it’s more than Nassr’s.
I hope it’s not Sainz, because he drives for Toro Rosso.
yeah that would be a drama:P
Not really…Peter Sauber gave a lot of this shit to Monisha back then.
He shouldn’t have bought back the team from BMW without sufficient support from BMW. Just like Ross Brawn did with Honda in 2009.
You mean Nasr? Nasr brings a lot more money than Ericsson.. who obviously brings more than VDG.
Whatever happens to resolve this messy affair, there are going to be some unhappy sponsors, an unhappy driver and a big loss of money for Sauber. We are yet to hear anything from the FiA, although I don’t think it will be heaping praise on Sauber. Surely Monisha Kaltenborn has to take most of the blame for this mess. How long can she last in her position?
If I remember correctly, she was asked about this situation, late last year.
She seemed positive that what they were doing was correct and above board.
Lawyers’ state of mind, perhaps?
This is basically a breach of contract dispute, and he has every right to sue for just that. But no judge should be dictating who or who should not be driving for an F1 team.
Just wanted to say big THANK YOU to you Adam for keeping us so well informed – much appreciated!
In an interview on Dutch television last season M. Kaltenborn said something like contracts in F1 are worthless…i’m intrested in her opinion now.
Great coverage of the first drama of te season, Adam. Nailed it.
I thought the first drama was from our perennial source of drama Fernando Alonso 🙂
Well Sauber is getting plenty of publicity and Bernie always says any publicity is good publicity anyway.
Problem is that vd Garde is running out of time, team isn’t responding to anything and dragging everything. Shame on the FIA, and where’s Ecclestone in this? (he always is the first to ventilate his opinion but now he’s nowhere to be found. Rumors go that vd Garde and his father in-law Marcel Boekhoorn are working behind the scenes to by the team if they go into bankruptcy, he has the ambition and money to pull it off. Boekhoorn tried to buy a stake in the team before but this might be a better deal for him. This saga is far from over!
Oh well, if the bailiffs do get sent in, all they really need to do is grab the Sauber starter motors or steering wheels. Everything else will be relegated to useless from there on haha.
Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, F1 doesn’t need this making the headlines.
Surely this will end Van der Garde’s career, but at least it’s going to be a spectacle i suppose!
Maybe GvdG’s next career will be spent toiling to pay off all the money his father in law fronted to tilt at this windmill.
This only reflects badly on Sauber. Giedo has acted to have a contract honoured and most drivers would have done the same in his position. The teams will recognise and appreciate he has been forced into this action. When Sauber entered into 3 driver contracts they should have just accepted that they were going to have to get the cheque book out to compensate one of them and dealt with it in private (rather like when Ferrari made the expensive mistake of announcing Vettel before concluding its break-up with Alonso)