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Van der Garde: Sauber contract saga should "change F1"

Giedo van der Garde has spoken out about pressing his claim against Sauber in Melbourne, and says the situation should never be allowed to happen again.

Giedo van der Garde, Sauber F1 Team

Giedo van der Garde, Sauber F1 Team

XPB Images

Giedo van der Garde, Sauber F1 Team
Giedo van der Garde, in the Sauber Motorhome
Giedo van der Garde, in the paddock
Giedo van der Garde, in the Sauber Motorhome
Giedo van der Garde, Sauber F1 Team
Marcus Ericsson, Sauber C34 with team mate Felipe Nasr, Sauber F1 Team at a team photograph
Marcus Ericsson, Sauber C34
Marcus Ericsson, Sauber C34

The Swiss team settled its dispute with the Dutch driver with a reportedly multi-million euro payment, but until then van der Garde argued that his valid 2015 race contract should be honoured by the team.

A Melbourne judge ordered that he be granted access to the Sauber garage at Albert Park for a seat fitting, and the 29-year-old now admits: "It felt very strange.

"I should have gone to the team and said 'Hello, I'm here to drive'," van der Garde told the Dutch magazine Formule 1. "But then I went to the motorhome and nobody said anything.

"All those people I worked with before, ignored me. Nobody looks at you and you think to yourself 'What's going on?'

"I walked to (team manager) Beat (Zehnder) and he shoved me a race suit and shoes and said 'Here'. I dressed in the garage to have the seat fitting, but the pedals were set up for (Marcus) Ericsson. Nothing could be changed. They didn't adjust the foam – nothing. 

"I don't know what the team told those guys, but if they are honest, they would acknowledge that they only received their salaries because of our early payment in 2014. And then suddenly we are the enemies, which is of course bullshit."

"We deserved more credit"

Van der Garde acknowledges that he knew the financial struggles that Sauber was facing, but feels he should have been treated with more respect.

"I understand that they were worried their jobs were in jeopardy, but I think we deserved a little more credit," he said.

"Only the engineers behaved normally, saying 'If I was treated like that, I too would stand up for my rights'. It's nice when you get respect like that, including from many drivers and team bosses.

"Sure, I'm out of the seat, my dream is gone, but I think it might change F1 now.

"I have spoken to Alexander Wurz, the chairman of the GPDA, and he is adamant that there should be better fairness in Formula One. I hope he succeeds, because this must never happen again."

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