Giedo van der Garde has begun legal action against the Sauber F1 Team in the hope of lining up on the grid for the Australian Grand Prix in a weeks time.
The Dutch driver has lodged a complaint with Victoria’s Supreme Court, claiming he was unfairly dismissed last season when the Swiss team opted to hire Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr as its drivers for the 2015 season.
“In early November 2014, Mr van de Garde was informed by Sauber’s Chief Executive Officer, Ms Monisha Kaltenborn, that Sauber’s two seats had been given to other drivers and that, as a consequence, Mr van der Garde would not have a place as a driver in the team in 2015,” the court documents claim.
“The Respondent was ordered to refrain from taking any action the effect of which would be to deprive Mr van der Garde of his entitlement to participate in the 2015 Formula One Season as one of Sauber’s two nominated race drivers.”
That references the Swiss Arbitration Institution’s ruling, which found in Van der Garde’s favour and demanded that Sauber should retain him as a driver. However they haven’t abided by this ruling and he is therefore seeking an urgent hearing on Monday.
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