RON SO SORRY OVER ALONSO
McLaren boss wrong about concussion
RON DENNIS, the McLaren chairman, has apologised for the confusion over Fernando Alonso’s condition, and predicted that the Spaniard would race again in Malaysia a fortnight on Sunday.
At a dinner in Melbourne ahead of the opening grand prix in Australia this weekend, Dennis set the record straight after saying erroneously that Alonso was not concussed in an accident in testing in Barcelona on February 22.
Dennis said: ‘It was not the best performance by me. I understand why the Press beat me up — for being inaccurate. I wanted to be open and honest.
‘I failed. But it is, as always, my objective to try to be as honest as possible in the future.
‘There are complexities about concussion. It is difficult to quantify, and it goes beyond my area of expertise. It is not my decision whether he will race in Malaysia, but as far as I know he will be there. I have every reason to believe he will be.
‘I spoke to Fernando on the way to this dinner.
‘He wants to race in Malaysia. I hope he does, but it is his decision, not mine.’
Meanwhile Formula One’s penchant for chaos was never better demonstrated than in a bizarre court case unfolding just down the road from the Albert Park track that will host Sunday’s race.
At issue is whether a Dutch driver called Giedo van der Garde should drive for Sauber.
Subject to an appeal in Melbourne today, he will win that right — a decision that could even mark the end of Sauber’s participation in the sport after 22 years.
This pickle came about after Sauber seemingly reneged on a contract that said Van der Garde would race for them this season. They instead hired two drivers, Brazilian Felipe Nasr and Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson, who between them bring £20million to the team.
But Van der Garde went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, clutching his contract. They found in his favour, a ruling that was upheld by the Supreme Court of Victoria here yesterday.
Sauber decided to appeal, the result of which is expected today. The team’s lawyers argued that — only days away from this weekend’s race — installing a different driver was an unacceptable safety risk.
They said the cars had been fitted to the specifications of Nasr and Ericsson.
Rodney Garratt QC told the court that the absence of the correct seatbelt meant Van der Garde could not compete safely given the 210mph speed of the cars and g-forces ‘up to five times their bodyweight’.
In truth, Sauber’s argument was melodramatic rubbish.
Even if they need to make some late changes, why is it less safe to let Van der Garde drive than Roberto Merhi, who was only named as Manor’s driver on Tuesday? Merhi has never driven the Manor car. Nobody has. It only passed its crash test last week.
And Van Der Garde, 29, was even Sauber’s test driver last year. They know his measurements.
No, Sauber cannot afford to drop Nasr, who is backed by Banco do Brasil, or Ericsson, who brings in a sponsorship package worth £10million.
Much of the pair’s money has been paid up front. Those backers would not react kindly to being told their man is suddenly out of a job.
One solution would be Van der Garde agreeing to receive compensation, but it is said he would prefer to get the drive rather than the money.
However, even this is illogical because without Sauber’s two high-paying drivers the whole team could be forced into administration, meaning therefore, he would have nobody to drive for.