I think this whole affair was poor from both sides. Firstly, Sauber knew they had a contract in place with GVG. They chose to just ignore him after better offer from that Ericsson dude. Next, GVG waits at the absolute last moment to suddenly make his claims. What a joke, particularly on Sauber's side.
I'm not sure that's the case. He already had a judgement against Sauber in Switzerland, and it was only because Sauber didn't comply that GVG started the action in Australia. That's my understanding.
At the end of 2014, Sauber had a serious cash flow problem, and would have done absolutely ANYTHING to survive. Signing Nasr and Ericson that brought sponsorship money allowed them to carry on. In that context, screwing Van der garde was necessary to ensure the team continuity. Not nice, but eh, it's business, and it won't be the last time something unethical is done in time of need.
I translated that statement to mean: "Look at us, we're taking the high road. Giedo's the bad guy. We're the good guys."
....and Kaltenborn should have been fired. Given they are keeping her I have zero support for Sauber. They are a joke and she is the face and voice. Its painful to see her on camera playing innocent and virtually lying. Its not about family being rich for VdG etc. A company treated him with zero respect, as if he and the VALID contract did not exist. Pathetic the team is in the executive level. They should not have been on the grid and she should have been detained!
I'm only guessing, but probably GVG turned up to drive and was told to go away, despite the Swiss order....so he took immediate action in the Aussie courts...makes perfect sense to me. I'm staggered that Sauber had no trouble in disregarding court orders.
He mentioned in his formal statement (posted in full in previous page) thst the action has been ongoing since last year. Would have had a lot of negotiations and pre trial stuff hence not in papers. Only 3 percent of cases get litigated where I'm from and I would assume a similar number worldwide. They must've kept it private for whatever season until it become an exigent issue before Aus gp
I don't get that. By signing Nasr and Ericson, Kaltenborn obtained some financial breathing space for Sauber. That's good management. Without Nasr and Ericson's sponsorship, Sauber would have closed its doors at the end on 2014. It was good brinkmanship on Kaltenborn's part. I enjoyed watching Nasr and Ericson scoring points in Australia, and therefore easing Sauber's finances for next year, and I didn't appreciate one bit Van Der Garde sabotage effort. I think VdG torpedoed completely any F1 aspirations he might have had. He had demonstarted what a spoilt brat he is: his career has been bankrolled by his father-in-law.
It appears she also relieved VDG's father in law of a few million bucks earlier in the season to keep the doors open. I enjoyed the cars scoring some points too. The drivers? They're both obviously paying big bucks, and I suspect VDG would have done just as well. 'Sabotage effort"? Not so sure. According to both Swiss & Aussie courts (twice), he had a valid contract and was just trying to enforce that. I think most here would be *pissed* in the same situation. And, in fairness, after making his point he backed off and basically said '**** it, I'm done'. Which of course is a lot easier to say when dad-in-law can bankroll a nice LMP1 drive. Cheers, Ian
That would something along the lines of 'fraud' potentially. Funny how some here see it as saving the team yet the law was potentially going to jail her and put the locks on the cars. So much for a good intention. Sauber are disgusting. More so after yestedays stupid message posted. Pathetic. If they folded Id laugh. If I was on the team id be looking to leave. All employee's should take note of their driver treatment with VdG.
Ceo Mentors Wally To No Avail - Dilbert Comic Strip on 2015-03-16 | Dilbert by Scott Adams Sauber will find a hard time getting talent in the future as the talent will know just how important their contract is. Think not just of drivers, but race engineers. Sauber torpedoed themselves. VdG did nothing unreasonable, especially given he didn't have the police seize the team's assets at Australia. He has not torpedoed his own F1 career as its over for pretty much any racing driver anyway. All he's shown is make sure you only write contracts you plan to keep.
I wish I could agree that anything positive will come from Giedo's sad story. But IMO the real lesson is an old one, that a contract with an unscrupulous and insolvent party isn't worth much. I suspect few drivers will ever put up as much of a fight as Giedo - I hope he got some of his sponsors' money back. I hate to say it, but IMO Monisha has won. I love motorsport, but it's diminished by the role money plays in determining who gets to the top. There are just so many brilliant young drivers lost to other things for lack of money.
Absolutely!! By using a bit of skullduggery, Monisha has saved Sauber and potentially 300 jobs !! Kudos to the woman, I say !! Maybe not very ethical, but very efficient:Sauber lives to fight another day.
Sauber Formula One team settles with van der Garde for $16 million | Autoweek Cash the check before it immolates..
LOL! You might not be that far off of the truth, either! AUTOSPORT.COM - Ferrari junior Raffaele Marciello to get F1 practice run for Sauber
