Exclusive: Van der Garde picks up special Sauber souvenir after bizarre 2015 F1 spell

If you cast your mind back to the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, therewas a lot of attention on a certain Dutchman in Formula 1. Not the17 year-old Max Verstappen fresh out of Formula 3, it was anotherby the name of Giedo Van der Garde. Having already raced in F1 forCaterham in 2012 and 2013, he pivoted to Sauber in a reserve rolewhich led to the scandal involving driver contracts. He insistedthat he signed a contract to race with the team, except there wasone problem: so did Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson, and reportedlyso did Adrian Sutil. This led to a lot of confused faces in thepaddock as Nasr and Ericsson turned up, who both were entered intothe weekend by the team, and so did Van der Garde expecting todrive the car in FP1. The Dutchman took successful legal actionagainst Sauber in the Australian Courts and arrived in the paddock,put on Ericsson's overalls, then entered the team's pit box minutesbefore practice was due to start. The team decided to miss thefirst session as they sorted out the crises, eventually reaching anagreement with Van der Garde which enabled Nasr and Ericsson totake part in FP2. RacingNews365 spoke at length with Van der Gardeabout that particular Sauber year. Those overalls, who did theyactually go home with? "I'm still getting it from Sauber," Van derGarde points out with a smile. "It's waiting for me and I'm alsogoing to pick it up at the factory. The biggest culprit was teamboss Monisha Kaltenborn, but all those guys who are still there noware good friends of mine." I normally have nothing to do with it,but there is a story behind this anyway Giedo van der Garde "Weagreed that I go to the factory, that I get another tour and thenwe have lunch together. That suit... All those helmets and suitsfrom the past don't do much for me, but of course there's a uniquestory behind this." Why did Van der Garde eventually abandon hisattempts to get into that car? "That working relationship was sodisturbed and it's not nice when you discover at 340kph thatsomething is not quite right. And then you get bought off and allof a sudden you're sitting at home." Now he can look back on itwith a smile, but that was different in the months after it becameclear that he was not on the F1 grid. "I did spend a year off themap," Van der Garde admits. "I really saw the black hole and ittook about three quarters of a year to get out of that." With that,he got help from the people around him and especially hisfather-in-law: "I was fully celebrating and going crazy. I was morerunning away from my problems. I took in a mental coach, but I alsowent to work in my father-in-law's company. "He indicated 'I onlydo this with my daughters, but for you I'll make an exception. Youwill be my right hand and as such you will be involved ineverything'. That was a great life lesson, and then I found outthat the business world does suit and attract me as well." Hedidn't disappear into the business world entirely, as hesuccessfully returned to race in the World Endurance Championshipand European Le Mans Series. Van der Garde went on to win the LMP2Pro-Am class with Racing Team Netherlands in 2021. This year heannounced that he would retire from racing for good, citing thathis life now "revolves around my family and the love of my life"alongside his ongoing career as an F1 pundit. "A little sad? Maybe.But proud and happy all the same," he said in a social mediastatement.