TheRMVR wrote:I am so glad he did. Finally somebody stands up. How many decades have drivers been screwed by teams? How many times haven't we heared a driver say: Im not worried, I have a contract. Only to be screwed out of it later. It seemed that in F1 a contract wasn't worth much.
Technically yes. What you are effectively saying is no different where every contract is concerned - even the ones we sign outside the world of F1. A contract is a contract - a signed document by at least two parties that give both some security in what they have agreed upon. In pretty much every case, it's a simple exchange of interests of supply & demand. In the sense of sport, it becomes a bit stranger because there is some sense of entitlement, because we are talking about people competing in an event.
However, as I earlier stated; this is a
team-sport. While most fans only care about the drivers, with perhaps a second interest in the team that is letting them drive, the matter of fact is that behind these drivers are big teams with hundreds of employees. There are various factors that can lead to an employer/employee relationship breaking down to the point it is no longer possible to continue what was agreed upon. Sometimes this happens solely on one side. For cases like these, you usually have clauses in contracts that handle what exactly happens when a contract is terminated prematurely or breached. In the case of F1, this should be handled as form of compensation, usually financially. The amount of [financial] compensation perhaps is rather complex as it varies from driver to driver, contract to contract, as the damage to one is not equal. If this happens and the driver is good - chances are he will find employment at a different team.
Now, as I said before, I personally think its a very dangerous precedent for a court to *force* a team to run a particular driver. Because essentially, nothing and no-one is bigger than the team. No good can come of having a court decide who should sit in the race seat if that individual isn't wanted by the team - as hard as it is. IMO the court should force a team to pay damages and compensation it deems worthy if a contract is terminated unjustly - and in the case of Sauber; if they go into administration because they can't pay those fees, so be it. In that sense, I'm not exactly against what VdG is doing (except for alterior motives if they prove to be true), but more critical of how the courts are handling the situation.
Lastly, it's been said before, but I'll just say it again; If Sauber had not created this 'mess' by signing Nasr and Ericsson and honoured an agreement with VdG, chances are high that they may not have made the 2015 grid - and VdG, as much as we may want to applaud him for taking these steps - would not have had a race seat to challenge, nor any money he or his backers may have invested...
So, on the basis of it - yes, I agree that people in general should stand for their rights - even F1 drivers. But we should not ignore what unfortunate circumstances played a big role in how this court case came about.
