This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Putting driver Giedo van der Garde in a car he isn’t fitted for would create an unacceptable risk of death, Formula One team Sauber’s lawyers say.

The Swiss team is fighting in a Melbourne courtroom to keep the Dutch driver from racing in this weekend’s Melbourne Grand Prix.

Van der Garde launched last-minute legal action claiming he had been guaranteed a driver spot in 2015 before Sauber reneged on the deal.

His replacements, 22-year-old Felipe Nasr and 24-year-old Marcus Ericsson, are heavily sponsored and bring in “many millions of euros” in revenue to Sauber, their lawyer, Will Houghton QC, told the court.

Sauber lawyer Rodney Garratt QC said Van der Garde, 29, had not trained in the team’s car, and had not gone through the two-week custom seat-fitting process.

He said putting Van der Garde in a car he wasn’t fitted for or trained in would put other drivers and support staff at an “unacceptable” risk of death.

“Mr van der Garde has no experience driving the c34 Ferrari and would not have sufficient time to learn,” Garratt told the international arbitration court.

But Van der Garde’s lawyer Tom Clarke cited a 2012 case where an F1 driver was fitted with a seat just three days after an emergency ruling put him in the car.

“Teams are very flexible to make adjustments for every specific driver,” he said.

Clarke said clauses in Nasr and Ericsson’s contracts allowed Sauber to replace a driver without breaching their deals.

“Sauber does have the ability to substitute Mr Van der Garde this weekend for one or another driver without falling into breach of those existing contracts,” he said.

Nasr and Ericsson were in the Supreme Court of Victoria to hear the opening statements. Justice Clyde Croft reserved his decision until 10am on Wednesday. Practice sessions for the Melbourne Grand Prix begin at Melbourne Park on Friday.