Formula 1's Latest Rumours and Talk: Fernando Alonso, Sauber, Williams, More

Sauber will pay Giedo van der Garde a reported €15 million settlement to give up his claim to a Formula One race seat in 2015. His contract with the Swiss team was cancelled by mutual consent, but that appears to be the only thing the two sides have managed to agree on.

The Dutchman released a statement after the deal was revealed; Sauber didn't like it and promptly issued one of their own.

Like Van der Garde, Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas didn't occupy the seats they were contracted to sit in for the Australian Grand Prix. However, they're hoping to be back on the grid in Malaysia as they recover from their respective injuries.

If Alonso can't make it, Kevin Magnussen will again take his place. Williams don't have a nominated reserve, so it's unclear who will deputise if the Finn's back has not fully healed by the time F1 arrives at Sepang.

But sadly, regardless of who is or isn't fit, they're not likely arrive in Germany. The country's race is almost certain to not happen, bringing to an end one of the longest grand prix-hosting streaks in F1 history.

Read on for a full roundup of the top stories of the last few days.

Giedo van der Garde Hits out at Sauber After Settlement Agreed

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Giedo van der Garde feels his F1 career may be over after agreeing to cancel his 2015 race contract with Sauber.

The row over the deal threatened to overshadow the Australian Grand Prix weekend. Days before the season-opener, the Supreme Court of Victoria ruled that the Dutchman had a valid contract and must be allowed to race.

Sauber, having also signed Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson to drive for them, disputed this.

Van der Garde later waived his claim on the seat in Melbourne as lawyers from both sides worked to reach an agreement. Adam Cooper reported on Tuesday that this had been reached, with the team paying Van der Garde €15 million.

Sauber can now concentrate on the season ahead, while Van der Garde looks to secure new employment—but he had a few words to say before moving on.

After the settlement was revealed, the former Caterham driver issued a statement on his official Facebook page. He said:

"

We have reached a settlement with Sauber and my driver contract with the team has been ended by mutual consent. As a passionate race driver, I feel sad and am very disappointed. I have worked very hard my entire career, ever since starting with go-karts at the age of eight, to live my dream and become a successful Formula One driver.

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. This dream has been taken away from me and I know that my future in Formula One is probably over.

"

He went on to criticise the actions of Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn, writing:

"

I am a race driver and all I want is to race. However, the team principal was adamant not to let me drive, notwithstanding my legal rights to do so and a series of rulings and court orders in my favour and despite my race driving abilities. I will never understand this. I could have persisted, but the team principal had taken a decision contrary to my contract that she would not work with me and this became painfully clear in the paddock in Melbourne.

"

The lengthy statement went on to thank those who have shown him support—including current drivers and "leading figures in the paddock"—among them team bosses and former drivers. Van der Garde also speaks of his future hopes and plans, mentioning Le Mans, the World Endurance Championship and DTM.

But perhaps the most interesting section discusses the financial dealings his personal sponsors had with Sauber. Van der Garde reveals the team were paid the funds for his 2015 drive in the first half of 2014.

This confirmation that the team took his money then simply attempted to brush him aside is shocking and, assuming it is true, Sauber can have no defence against it. A driver with fewer connections—for example, no highly supportive, billionaire father-in-law—may have been left both out of pocket and out of a drive.

Van der Garde ended his statement by calling for formal regulations within the sport to "protect the rights of drivers" in cases such as his and mentioned other young drivers who were "broken by Formula One and who have seen their careers destroyed."

Unfortunately, until the overall financial mess the sport is in has been dealt with, this isn't likely to happen.

Sauber Respond to Giedo van der Garde Statement

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn.

In response to the highly critical statement issued by Giedo van der Garde, Sauber released one of their own under the heading "Let's Race Not Fight."

Also placed on Facebook, it read:

"

Many of you read today’s statement on Giedo van der Garde’s Facebook page. So have we and we were, indeed, rather surprised. We don’t know about Giedo’s intentions. He may try to present himself as a winner, while we had actually hoped to come to rest after our agreement. Giedo decided to take a different approach—the reasoning behind we cannot understand.

We’d have very good answers to the many statements and accusations in Giedo’s post. But to expand on this wouldn’t help our race team nor our fans and partners. It would only encourage a mud fight via the media and we will not lend ourselves to that. The next race in Malaysia is where our focus is and that’s where we will build up on last weekend’s success together with our drivers Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. All our efforts are drawn to this objective.

With this in mind we’d like to encourage you to form your own opinion about what happened, however critical it may be. From our side we herewith close the matter and look already forward to celebrating future achievements at the race track together with you.

"

It's understandable that Sauber wish to move on from this episode, but this vague brush-off isn't a good way of doing that. While Van der Garde's statement elicited sympathy and positive responses, Sauber's received a mostly negative reaction on both Facebook and Twitter.

If the team wish to win back the hearts and minds of fans—and in some way, clear their badly tarnished name—they need to make public the "very good answers" they claim to have.

If a bit of mud needs to be thrown, so be it. Everyone involved is already coated from head to toe in the stuff, so a little extra isn't going to hurt.

Has this whole episode not taught them they can't just ignore a problem and hope it goes away?

Fernando Alonso Working Toward Malaysia Return

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Fernando Alonso spent Wednesday at the McLaren headquarters as he works towards his return to action.

The Spaniard suffered a concussion in a crash at the final pre-season test and was replaced by Kevin Magnussen for the Australian Grand Prix. He is hoping to be back at the Malaysian round on March 29 and appears to be working toward it.

"

Gran día en la fabrica de McLaren! Muchas reuniones y trabajo en el simulador! Great day today at MTC! Lots of meetings and simulator work!

— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) March 18, 2015"

Sky Sports reports that Alonso will undergo FIA tests on March 22. If passed fit, he will be at Sepang; if not, Kevin Magnussen will again take the wheel in his stead.

However, it's unlikely even Alonso will be able to drag the MP4-30 into contention. If he does return, it'll be to a weekend reminiscent of his 2001 season at Minardi.

Williams Hope Valtteri Bottas Will Make It to Malaysia

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Bottas was helped from the car after qualifying.

Valtteri Bottas was forced to miss the Australian Grand Prix after sustaining a back injury during qualifying.

He had to be helped out of the car at the end of Q3, and a Williams statement later revealed he had suffered a "very small tear in the annular part of a disc in his lower back."

Following a series of tests, the FIA medical delegate deemed him unfit to race. As it was too late to replace Bottas, Felipe Massa was the sole Williams driver in the Melbourne race. Should Bottas be unfit for Sepang, the team will almost certainly use a substitute.

Speaking to Autosport, Williams said:

"

We are fully supportive of Valtteri and his determination to return to the cockpit in Malaysia. He is receiving the best possible care and is doing everything he can to be fully fit again.

We are committed to doing what we can to help the process, as of course we really want to see him back racing again. As he was deemed unfit to race by the FIA in Australia he will need to receive final approval by the FIA medical team in Malaysia on Thursday.

...

"

"

There are a variety of options available to us, which we are evaluating should we need a reserve driver.

However, at this point we are committed to seeing Valtteri back in the car and therefore we would not want to speculate or comment on any alternative.

"

Williams have two contracted drivers who would be eligible to take part in the race—Susie Wolff and Alex Lynn. Per BBC Sport, Wolff is not being considered. Given her lack of recent race experience and poor record, this is probably a good thing.

Lynn is a different story. The reigning GP3 champion is signed up for a drive with the leading DAMS team in 2015's GP2 season, but he would have no trouble racing in Malaysia as the junior series does not start until April.

He's certainly a contender, but a lack of time in F1 cars could count against him. His one and only appearance in a top-level machine came at last season's Abu Dhabi test, in which he completed 52 laps for Lotus.

Mercedes-backed Pascal Wehrlein was touted as a candidate by BBC Sport's Andrew Benson, but there are a host of drivers with recent race experience they could turn to if needed.

Or perhaps Andre Lotterer might be a good choice. He did well in his short outing for Caterham last season...

German Grand Prix of 2015 All but Dead

Jens Meyer/Associated Press

Hopes of Germany staging a round of the 2015 F1 world championship appear all but dead after Hockenheim bosses gave up on trying to reach an agreement with Bernie Ecclestone.

Circuit boss Georg Seiler told Bild (h/t crash.net for the English translation) that there is "no hope any more of having a Formula One race here."

With Nurburgring out of the running, Germany is set to miss out on hosting a grand prix for the first time since 1955 (or 1960—the race that year was a non-championship event). There'll be no home race for Mercedes, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg—a scenario unimaginable in the heyday of Michael Schumacher.

Hulkenberg tweeted his dismay.

"

Very sad to hear no more Home GP this year! #GermanGP #history

— Nico Hülkenberg (@NicoHulkenberg) March 18, 2015"

Former McLaren and Ligier driver Mark Blundell also weighed in.

"

Very sad to hear no German Grand Prix and Mercedes Benz can't be happy having no home race .... Sign of the times, who knows ...

— Mark Blundell (@markblundellf1) March 18, 2015"

This apparent final nail in the coffin of the race came after Bernie Ecclestone commented on the race before the Australian Grand Prix weekend. Speaking to Christian Sylt of The Independent, he said: "The German Grand Prix is dead at the moment. It won’t get replaced if it doesn’t happen. As with any race, if it is cancelled it is cancelled. There’s not much we can do."

Given that it's the fees demanded by Ecclestone to host the race that caused these problems in the first place, there is something he can do. He could give them the race for next to nothing in the interest of preserving a bit of precious F1 history.

However, that wouldn't be in the interest of siphoning huge amounts of cash out of the sport and into the pockets of the commercial rights holders, so don't hold your breath.