Formula One team Sauber have lost their appeal to block Dutch driver Giedo van der Garde’s bid to force the Swiss outfit to let him drive for them this season.
Sauber appealed a ruling by the Supreme Court of Victoria, which on Wednesday upheld a Swiss arbitration tribunal’s decision that had ordered the team to refrain from taking action to deprive Van der Garde from racing for them.
Van der Garde had charged Sauber with reneging on a deal to give him a race seat after they signed Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson and Brazilian Felipe Nasr as their two race-day drivers.
The court dismissed Sauber’s appeal yesterday and ordered the team to pay his legal costs, three days before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
After Wednesday’s initial ruling, Van der Garde had said he was looking forward to going back to the team and driving for them this weekend at Albert Park.
“I still have a very good relation with the team,” he told reporters.
Lawyers for Sauber had argued that handing Van der Garde a seat so late before the race was an unacceptable safety risk and told the Court of Appeal that there was no car seat in Melbourne that could be adapted to suit the Dutchman.
The team also argued that Van der Garde had no F1 “super-license,” which would bar him from driving.
Though the court ordered the enforcement of the Swiss tribunal’s decision, it was unclear whether Van der Garde would be able to race in Australia.
Formula One racing director Charlie Whiting told reporters that Van der Garde could not race without a super-license, but a day before today’s practice, would not rule out his ability to get one.
“All I’m saying is that there are procedures that are dealt with through the team, through the ASN [national sporting authority] of the driver concerned and the FIA in Geneva,” Whiting said. “The safety department in Geneva deal with that.”
The legal battle has played out amid concerns over the financial health of a number of Formula One teams.
Ericsson and Nasr replaced German Adrian Sutil and Mexican Esteban Gutierrez at Sauber, each bringing substantial financial backing.
Nasr’s seat has brought sponsorship from Banco do Brasil, while Ericsson brings other backers.
Either drivers’ displacement to make way for Van der Garde could prove problematic for Sauber’s commercial arrangements in a sport renowned for its astronomical running costs.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set