Messy contractual situation brewing at Sauber? (Update 2)
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| Giedo van der Garde says his Legal Eagles will be handling his contract situation with Sauber. |
Add Giedo van der Garde to the list of drivers who believe they have a contract to drive with Sauber for next season.
The Dutchman confirmed this Thursday in light of 2014 Sauber man Adrian Sutil also saying he has a working contract with the Hinwil team for 2015. For those counting, that means four drivers under contract for Sauber next season, as the team announced Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr in the past week.
"You could say that I am surprised — in capital letters," van der Garde told the Swiss newspaper Blick.
"Next week my management and lawyers will be on the case."
Van der Garde's good friend Nico Hulkenberg of Force-India told reporters he had spoken to the Dutchman about his 2015 contract on Tuesday.
Messy times at Sauber. And we imagine this whole situation is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
11/06/14
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| A s***storm brewing at Sauber? Sounds like it. |
Below, are a few quotes for Sauber F1 boss Monisha Kaltenborn regarding the contractual situation that has arisen with the team's signing of Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson for 2015.
"We have announced our drivers and that’s how it’s going to be," said Kaltenborn.
Maybe, but that's not what 2014 driver Adrian Sutil thinks. According to Sutil, he has a contract with the team for 2015. According to the report below, the team is requesting that Sutil walk away without objection, as the team's financial situation needs the sponsorship brought by Nasr and Ericsson. Apparently, Sutil is not cooperating with whatever plans the team has.
And complicating matters, perhaps, are reports that Dutchman Giedo van der Garde may also have a contract with Sauber for next season.
Whatever is going on, Kaltenborn is playing her cards close to the vest, even refusing to acknowledge if there even is an issue.
"I’m not admitting it’s got to be resolved, all I said is if issues are coming up, we will look at them internally.
"As I have said we have announced our drivers, if there are any other points related to it these are internal matters which we will discuss internally….I am very clearly aware of my situation and I know what I’m doing. So we’ve announced our drivers, everything else we shall sort out internally."
"We know as I said what we are doing, and we are sure about that, if others have to go and say something, fine. But we shall discuss all these things internally."
"Our situation is very clear, that’s what I can talk about. As I said we’ve announced our drivers, that’s it."
AR1 will continue to follow this rather bizarre situation.
AR1 Staff Report
11/06/14
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| Looks to us like Sauber has a mess on its hands. At the very least, that's what Adrian Sutil thinks. And it looks like the German isn't going away quietly. |
Adrian Sutil has made it clear that Sauber has not addressed the issue of his 2015 contract before announcing that Felipe Nasr will join Marcus Ericsson next year.
Sutil signed a firm two-year deal last year which did not require him to bring any sponsorship – and he is paid a salary by the team. Sources suggest that there are no options or any way Sauber can cancel the contract without it becoming an expensive exercise for the Swiss team.
Sauber’s view is clearly that the sponsorship income from Ericsson and Nasr will more than cover the cost of paying Sutil to not to drive – and meanwhile the German is being told that unless he walks away the team’s future is at risk.
Presumably there was some pressure from Nasr’s Brazilian sponsor to go ahead with the announcement last night before the Sutil situation was resolved, which could make things messy legally.
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| Word is Giedo van der Garde may also be under contract to Sauber. By our tally, that's four contracted drivers, two cars, lots of red ink and one big legal mess at Hinwil right now. |
Meanwhile sources say that Giedo van der Garde also has a contract to race for Sauber in 2015 and the team could face two legal challenges….
"There are certain things to talk about, definitely, yes," said Sutil today. "I mean they’ve confirmed two drivers, it doesn’t mean the drivers are going to drive, and it doesn’t mean the team are going to drive. So there’s no real change from last weekend to this weekend. It’s just an announcement, and now of course in my situation I think I have to do some talking to sort out the things."
Asked if he thought he would be in F1 next year he said: "At the moment, I don’t know. Maybe. F1 is unpredictable, but as I said there are a few things to talk about first, and the team has to comment on the rest."
Meanwhile he admitted that the first lap clash with Sergio Perez in Austin was disappointing.
"We didn’t speak, so he didn’t apologise. Anyway, that’s how it is. It’s a shame, it was a good chance for points. A very nice qualifying, it was good to be in Q3 finally with this car, it’s been quite a challenge this year to be honest! So we didn’t expect it. For some reason it got better and better through the qualifying session, and especially on Saturday the car was better than before. So many things to analyse.
"We’ll try of course again here. I look forward to the race weekend, big chances with the weather looking very wet, and I think everyone knows how the race can turn out here in Brazil. We’ve seen many exciting races."