F1: Van der Garde should race for Sauber, court rules

Giedo van der Garde should be able to race for Sauber Motorsports in this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, the Victorian Supreme Court has ruled.

Van der Garde brought legal action against Sauber after learning that he had been passed over for the 2015 season in favor of Filipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson, despite previously having signed a deal to drive for the team. A Swiss arbitration court ruled Sauber could not deny him the right to race for Sauber, but the team appealed that ruling. Van de Garde sought to have the ruling enforced in Victoria, and the court found the Swiss ruling should be upheld.

Sauber's lawyers argued that it would be dangerous to allow van der Garde to race because the team's 2015 carshad been designed to fit other drivers, but lawyers for van der Garde countered he was "ready, willing and able" to fulfil his racing obligations.

Within hours of the decision, it was announced by the Supreme Court of Victoria that Sauber had appealed against the ruling. Although initially expected to be heard on Wednesday, the appeal has been deferred until Thursday morning.

"We are disappointed with this decision and now need to take time to understand what it means and the impact it will have on the start of our season," team boss Monisha Kaltenborn said in a statement. "What we cannot do is jeopardize the safety of our team, or any other driver on the track, by having an unprepared driver in a car that has now been tailored to two other assigned drivers."