Giedo Van Der Garde vs. Sauber – Part 4

Leaving primitive schadenfreude aside, it it always awkward to see one party to a legal action getting its posterior kicked in a court room.

We just witnessed that event in the Victoria Court Of Appeals, when the judge read out a short summary ruling. Giedo Van Der Garde prevailed in his attempt to have the Swiss arbitration verdict upheld in Australia. The court dismissed all of the Sauber team’s arguments, swiftly and comprehensively.

The lawyers for Sauber looked half-shocked, half-demoralized. Beyond asking for a copy of the full detail judgment, they said little. The lawyers for Van Der Garde asked for a signed copy to take to Sauber, and then craftily took the opportunity to remind the court that their client was ready and willing to drive, and would be looking forward to traveling to the circuit. They also pointed out that they had emailed Sauber at 7.45pm on Tuesday evening expressing their willingness to work with the team, but had not yet received a reply (HINT TO COURT – We’re not the ones being unco-operative, your honour).

The judge felt it necessary to point out that the court officers were available 24×7 to resolve any issues (HINT TO DEFENDANTS – You had better be co-operative). Van Der Garde’s lawyer then said “I hope we will not be back in front of you under those circumstances, your honour (HINT TO DEFENDANTS – You heard what the judge said. Be co-operative).

Sauber is clearly simply playing for time, for it has been announced that they intend to appeal the ruling this afternoon. Quite what grounds they intend to argue on I am not sure. Their previous arguments concerning non-enforcement were waved away in today’s ruling. From comments made by Monisha Kaltenborn, it seems that they may try to argue on the issue of safety, but I think that is a long shot.

Everything about the presentation of their case convinces me that Sauber never thought that could win in court, and their tactics seem to be designed to play for time and spin out the legal process to the point where they can either avoid having to run Giedo Van Der Garde, or so that they can claim force majeure and not run at all on the Grand Prix weekend.

This is a real soap opera, but with real characters, lots of money and international finance. The only thing missing is sex.

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