Adjourning the case until tomorrow, the judge presiding over the Sauber case has urged both sides to talk to one another.

When the teams took to the track this morning, two were missing. Marussia due to a variety of technical issues and Sauber due to the ongoing legal action from Dutch driver Giedo Van der Garde.

Having lost its appeal yesterday, all eyes were on Sauber to see whether the team might relent and allow its former driver to participate. However, though clad in a pair of overalls he never actually entered the team's garage which remained shut throughout the opening session.

At the start of the second session, as rumours swirled around the paddock, Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson were first out, Van der Garde, having discarded his race overalls, now wandering the paddock.

Amidst talk of team boss Monisha Kaltenborn being imprisoned following Van der Garde's contempt of court action or even the team's assets being frozen, Supreme Court Justice Clyde Croft called for both sides to get together.

"I do wish the parties to talk seriously about resolving this matter by agreement," he said.

In response, Van der Garde's lawyer revealed that there have been "constructive discussions between the parties which are expected to continue this evening", however, outwardly neither side looks likely to give way.

Naturally, the case was top of the agenda at the team principals press conference that followed this morning's second session, Kaltenborn one of the six team bosses attending.

"It's a topic I cannot talk about," she replied when asked about the situation, a response Kaltenborn, herself a lawyer, was made to repeat time and time again.

Eventually she did admit that the situation has had a "a very negative impact on the team”, because “the situation was for a while unclear".

"We now have certain actions taken against the team, and we are acting accordingly," she added. "There's nothing much more I can really say to that."

Asked whether the situation, which is causing embarrassment not only to the team but to the sport, might mean her resigning her position, she said: "This whole matter doesn't have any effect on the way we work, the way the team works."

Opinion in the paddock is divided, and while many sympathise with Van der Garde it is the damage the case is doing to the sport that causes concern.

On the other hand, it has been made clear that this is a situation that was inevitable, what with the team having taken the Dutch racer's money last year. Indeed, many are wondering whether Adrian Sutil, who had a two year deal with the Swiss team, will follow suit and head to court.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Hondawho?, 14/03/2015 13:43

"1. Posted by scf1fan, 22 hours ago
I hope your use of the term "beggar" as a euphemism!

Oh yes, I could have been very vocal but would have been called various other names and possibly even had the comment removed should I have written my thoughts.

Guess we will never hear the truth or anything at all come to that about the "Australian deal" but it will be interesting to see what happens next.

I suspect as long as some teams are scrabbling around for funds we shall see more of these types of events or better still "upstage" contract terms will be written into the original deals, assuming they can get away with it and save us the bother having to read about yet another court case.

On another note qualifying was boring, lets hope the race may be more exciting. Williams did well fingers crossed."

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2. Posted by scf1fan, 13/03/2015 15:53

"@Hondawho?, I hope your use of the term "beggar" as a euphemism! Although it is true that we don't know the details, we do KNOW that Sauber's Kaltenborn seemed to have had issues with many of their team's driver contracts last year. If in fact, she/Sauber had entered into a contract with Van der Garde, and he fulfilled his side of it by providing the sponsorship or whatever was required in exchange for a race seat this year, then what she is doing is beyond any "embarrassment" to the sport and rightly belongs in court.

Personally I suspect that she/Sauber waited this long feeling she/Sauber would win this battle by attrition. Hopefully the facts will win out, but I do wish Peter had left the team in better hands."

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3. Posted by kiwi2wheels, 13/03/2015 15:11

"I hope the Judge does order the arrest of Kaltenborn, she is printed and thrown in a cell. And the assets frozen.

That should teach the **** a lesson and cause her immediate firing. One F 1 team, going cheap ! Gene Haas could make good use of Saubers excellent facilities ..............."

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4. Posted by Hondawho?, 13/03/2015 14:31

"One place I would not like to be is in the Sauber garage!

What a ridiculous state of affairs. How a lawyer boss could leave herself so open to this beggars belief.

That said none of us really now the correct situation but even so it brings yet another court room twist to the F1 paddock and the season has not even started. That is a fact we are all aware of.

I feel sorry for the team members."

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Judge urges Sauber and Van der Garde to talk

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