Giedo van der Garde admits his legal fight with the Sauber F1 Team has probably ended any chance he had of racing in the sport again.
The Dutch driver has been embroiled in a fight with the Swiss team over contracts, claiming he held a valid contract to race this season – something Victoria’s Supreme Court sided with him on.
Despite the ruling, Sauber ran its original driver pairing of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr, denying Van der Garde the chance to show what he can do.
“I had hoped at last to be able to show what I am capable of, driving a car for a respected midfield team in the 2015 season,” he said.
“This dream has been taken away from me and I know that my future in Formula 1 is probably over.”
He has now accepted a financial settlement and dropped his legal case, though he insists his fight against the team was a valid one.
“I had a valid driver contract for the entire 2015 season and enforceable rights to it,” he added. “I pushed very hard until last Saturday in Melbourne to get the drive that I was entitled to.
“This legal process started in 2014 and has taken a great deal of effort. It was never a last minute thing, but it only became public in the last week when we tried to force the team to accept the rulings of a succession of legal authorities and courts.”
