Sauber F1 Team 2015

[stuartpengs]

Am I right in thinking we could only be a few hours away from hearing the outcome of the court appeal?

7:48 in Melbourne now, isn't it scheduled for 9:30? In which case, yes it shouldn't be too long (depending on legal arguments)

[Per]

Forget about not driving him in FP let alone quali, I don't know who ever came up with such an idea.

The Swiss ruling is clear, it literally refers to participating "in the 2015 Formula One Season as one of Sauber’s two nominated race drivers". The term "Formula One Season" is not explicitly defined in the FIAs F1 Sporting Regulations but it is regularly used in that document and it can thus safely be assumed that it refers to the World Championship containing all of its Events.

I think we can all agree that the court has ruled that Sauber should not prevent van der Garde to participate in the 'Event' held in Australia coming weekend? Yes? Then let's see what an 'Event' is (Sporting Regulations, article 2.2):

Event means any event entered into the FIA Formula One Championship Calendar for any year commencing at the scheduled time for scrutineering and sporting checks and including all practice and the race itself and ending at the later of the time for the lodging of a protest under the terms of the Code and the time when a technical or sporting certification has been carried out under the terms of the Code.

So yes, if Sauber deny GvdG to drive in free practice, they are violating the court's ruling.

So annoying to see a whole discussion unfolding because someone thought to have a smart idea but was too lazy to even take the slightest effort to check the facts before making wild assumptions.

[Richard]

I agree, sometimes these fallacious arguments are repeated so often it's bordering on trolling. I often drop a PM to whoever it is to suggest they change the subject and delete posts after that point. Alas I am not omnipotent... but I'm working on it

[George-Jung]

[Phil]

I still think one of the main motivation by dragging this to court and wanting that seat is indirectly to push Sauber into administration, which would probably happen if they were forced to run VdG, then not run at all and then have their two wanted drivers file the next lawsuits because they didnt get to drive.

If you had truckloads of money and was considering buying into a team, surely that's the way you'd do it...

[efuloni]

I just read a long article that describes the whole thing as a clever strategy of vdG, stating that the greater goal is to get shares and control of Sauber to Marcel Boekhoorn. It says Marcel tried to buy it last year and could not have a deal and that Sauber was aware all of the time that this lawsuit could happen.

It has, however, some conspirational air, saying even that some employees with close relation to vdG are been fired.

But the text is singned by a young journalist with a nice reputation here in Br, that writes for the best site of automobilism. Its written in PT-Br, but you can try translate on google, if you wish.

The link: http://grandepremio.uol.com.br/f1/notic ... r-a-sauber

[Richard]

If you had truckloads of money and was considering buying into a team, surely that's the way you'd do it...

Possibly if you had a grudge and wanted a lot of hassle. It would be cheaper and easier to buy Marussia last November. On the other hand if you wanted a team near to home then I guess Sauber would be attractive to VDG & co, but there would be easier ways to do that without the hassle or needlessly destroying the thing you want to buy.

[efuloni]

The article I just mentioned says that this is the actual goal of all this: get Sauber for themselves.

[Per]

I still think one of the main motivation by dragging this to court and wanting that seat is indirectly to push Sauber into administration, which would probably happen if they were forced to run VdG, then not run at all and then have their two wanted drivers file the next lawsuits because they didnt get to drive.

If you had truckloads of money and was considering buying into a team, surely that's the way you'd do it...

Sauber not driving at all is not a serious scenario I think, it does not solve the GvdG issue and instead it creates two new ones as you said.

Obviously they have three drivers (or four, I don't know about Sutil's situation) and can only satisfy two. So who do you drop? The one that is the cheapest to drop. Who is that? Still Giedo van der Garde.

I think Sauber will race in Melbourne, with Ericsson and Nasr behind the wheel; GvdG will bark some more on Friday then pack his stuff and go to the next lawsuit in Switzerland where he will demand compensation.

Then there are two options, either Sauber is able to pay up or they aren't. If not, either Boekhoorn takes over the team or it's end of story. In the latter case, Boekhoorn still doesn't see his money back so obviously he will want to avoid this. For the same reason, GvdG and his backers will rather see Sauber race with Nasr and Ericsson than not race at all.

If everyone remains rational, Sauber will admit informally to GvdG that they are at fault and that they will start talking about compensation after the Grand Prix. I think even if Boekhoorn is interested in taking over the team, he is smart enough to know that reputation is important and he won't want to win ownership by first putting an entire team including employees' jobs on the line. I hope.

[knabbel]

If you had truckloads of money and was considering buying into a team, surely that's the way you'd do it...

Possibly if you had a grudge and wanted a lot of hassle. It would be cheaper and easier to buy Marussia last November. On the other hand if you wanted a team near to home then I guess Sauber would be attractive to VDG & co, but there would be easier ways to do that without the hassle or needlessly destroying the thing you want to buy.

Marussia is based in Banburry, close to Silverstone, Sauber is based in Hinwill, close to Zurich. Travel time to both factories is not a lot different.

[PlatinumZealot]

Can anyone explain how did Sauber know that Geido has a valid contract but then totally ignore it and sign two more drivers?

[Richard]

Money. F1 has a long list of drivers replaced with a richer pay driver, or in Button's case a driver ditching a team, The difference is that this driver didn't go quietly.

[Phil]

From what i understand, Sauber is attractive because of the windtunnel and infrastructure that is in place. I also understand that Peter Sauber was adament to find a 'good' solution for the team. While it was considered to sell the team at various points after he bought it back from BMW, one of the msin concerns was to keep the jobs of the employees in Hinwil, retain the name Sauber and crucially, it should be secured for the longterm future to avoid the fiasco they had with BMW when they decided to step back out.

They were a few offers on the table back then, but none that Peter wanted to go with. So in the end, he tried to secure the team by using his own money and together with the aim to step out if the spotlight, monisha was given the opportunity to lead the team and to be invested in the team (she has shares). Actually i'm not sure if these shares were given by Peter.

Anyway - from what gather, boekhoorn was interested in buying into a F1 team. First Honda, then apparently Sauber in 2014 when VdG was hired. There might be easier ways to get a f1 team, or perhaps not.

One has to beg the question though, what VdG has to gain by forcing himself into the seat that no one wants to give him. From what auto motor & sport are reporting, VdG is refusing a settlement and insisting on the seat. Surely this screams alternative motive by his backers (boekhoorn) given that VdG racing will lead to additional charges that will eventually lead them to go bust.

[Richard]

Its similar to a trojan horse strategy. Normally the horse is disposable because they attract all the wrath. However, I imagine VDG would be a driver if Boekhoorn took over? If so, he'd not be very welcome for inflicting all this damage on the team.

[Slife]

What about the elephant in the room ? Sauber sold 3 seats when they have two. They are going to have to breach someone's contract and get sued for it.