The prospect of action against Sauber for contempt of court was ended today when Giedo van der Garde and the Swiss team came to an agreement after intensive negotiations overnight.
The immediate result was that Van der Garde withdrew his action for contempt of court, which means that the cars will not be seized and Monisha Kaltenborn is free to leave the country.
No details of the agreement were given, and it is still fluid. One of Van der Garde’s legal team told this writer “it can go in a number of different ways, that’s what makes it interesting.”
Van Der Garde himself confirmed that talks will continue next week to find a solution.
It’s assumed that a financial settlement was one of the key areas of discussion, but as noted earlier, that would have to involve a substantial guarantee from the team that the money is available. However, it seems that the possibility of the Dutchman racing for the team at some stage is still very much on the table.
Van der Garde noted: “With respect to the interest of motorsport, and F1 in particular, I have decided to give up my legal rights to race this weekend at the Melbourne Grand Prix.
“As I am a passionate race driver this decision has been very difficult for me. However I also wish to respect the interest of the FIA, Sauber Motorsport, as well as Nasr and Ericsson.
“My management will continue talks with Sauber early next week to find a mutually acceptable solution for the current situation that has now arisen.
“I am confident such solution will be found and I will inform the media once done.”
Adam Cooper F1 
for me its simple the 3 drivers will rotate during races! Giedo is not driving this weekend because of the sauber stall actions earlyer. its simply to late to get a superlicense now. but as of the next GP expect the man Giedo in the car!
Ehm…the FOUR drivers. They need to rotate the 4 drivers…don’t forget Sutil is in there too.
Well, that must be one hell of a deal on the horizon…? Team van der Garde must be feeling pretty confident to make this statement, considering the strong legal position
Anxious the know what’s going to be the outcome of this.
Calmer heads have prevailed. I am curious to know who has guaranteed Van der Garde payment.
thank you for your super fast update!
Who in the world would give GVdG a ride after this mess?
Any other team desperate for funding. But I’d hope their attorneys would be smart enough to write in termination clauses that would give them “outs”.
George why are you still on Sauber’s side? Two different courts, Switzerland and now Australia, have ruled in several different lawsuits that vd Garde is right and Sauber breached the contract! vd Garde has an obligation to his sponsors and staff to pursuit the initial agreement and I’m proud that a fellow countryman finally takes the bull by the horn and says;”ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”. Many drivers who got screwed by teams didn’t do squat to get their backers at least a chance to get their investment back.
If a team gives Giedo a drive there will be no issues as long as they stick to the contract and let him drive.
Sauber are 100% the guilty party in this situation and Giedo is perfectly within his rights to do what he is doing and is been very polite to Sauber to let them complete this Australian GP.
Let’s not forget that it is Sauber who broke contractual agreements and I’m sure the other teams and drivers all see that judging by the quotes they have already given.
Who in the world would sign a contract with Sauber after this mess?
sounds like he’s playing the long game and possibly pretty well. The references are easy to spot. Who was influencing this was called out.
Sauber will after his father in law wil be part owner after all this mess.