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Van der Garde vs Sauber appeal verdict set for today

The outcome of who will be driving the Sauber this weekend in Australia is set to come down later today in Australia

Giedo van der Garde, Sauber Reserve Driver

Giedo van der Garde, Sauber Reserve Driver

XPB Images

Giedo van der Garde, Sauber Reserve Driver
Giedo van der Garde, Sauber Reserve Driver
Felipe Nasr, Sauber C34
Felipe Nasr, Sauber C34

The Victoria Court of Appeal is to hand down its judgement on the Giedo Van Garde case at 1630 today after hearing submissions this morning.

Sauber had appealed against Wednesday’s judgement in favour of the Dutch driver, and after a brief hearing yesterday, the case was postponed until today. Over the course of a two and half hour session they heard from lawyers for Sauber, Marcus Ericsson/Felipe Nasr, and Van der Garde.

Driver not present for appeal

Van der Garde was not present in court today – not surprisingly he opted to clear his head and get some training in – but Monisha Kaltenborn appeared for the first time this week, although she was just an observer.

Among the interest facts to emerge today was news that Monisha Kaltenborn had written to the Contract Recognition Board on March 4th, after the recent Swiss arbitration judgement around which the case revolves, to say that van der Garde’s contract had been terminated on February 6th. Sauber’s lawyer later claimed that Van der Garde had breached confidentiality by talking to the media.

More legal action?

The lawyer for Ericsson and Nasr claimed that his drivers might face a legal challenge from Van der Garde should they deprive him of his seat, but when quizzed by the judges – who one of whom thought such an outcome would only happen “in the far outer reaches of the galaxy” – Van der Garde’s lawyer confirmed that wouldn’t happen.

Much was made of Van der Garde’s current lack of a superlicence, but the application process is in fact the responsibility of the team.

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