Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsSauber

Van der Garde won't race in Australia

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Giedo van der Garde and Sauber have reached a settlement with the Dutch driver opting not to race this weekend in Melbourne.

Van der Garde had been chasing a race seat after successfully claiming that Sauber had to run him as one of its drivers for the 2015 season. With the team not running in FP1 as a result of the ongoing court case, the team's plans have been heavily affected as one of Felipe Nasr or Marcus Ericsson would have had to be replaced.

However, following talks between the two parties overnight, van der Garde says a settlement has been reached which means he has decided to stop pursuing the seat this weekend.

"With respect to the interest of motorsport, and F1 in particular, I have decided to give up my legal rights to race this weekend at the Melbourne Grand Prix," van der Garde said in a statement.

"As I am a passionate race driver this decision has been very difficult for me.

"However I also wish to respect the interest of the FIA, Sauber Motorsport, as well as Nasr and Ericsson.

"My management will continue talks with Sauber early next week to find a mutually acceptable solution for the current situation that has now arisen.

"I am confident such solution will be found and I will inform the media once done."

The move allows Sauber to complete the Australian Grand Prix race weekend with Nasr and Ericsson as its race drivers, while further talks will take place ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix which is held on March 29.

"The Sauber F1 Team can confirm it has been able to agree with Mr. Giedo Van der Garde that he refrains from driving in the Australian Formula One Grand Prix so it can keep its original planning," Sauber said in a statement.

"The Sauber F1 Team, Mr. Van der Garde and his management will continue to have constructive talks in order to find a mutually acceptable solution. The Sauber F1 Team is here to race in the Australian Formula One Grand Prix and that is what the team is now focusing on. In the course of next week we will be able to give more information."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.