turbof1 wrote:. Sutil is rumored to have started his own law suit against the team, probably following the example set by Guido vd Garde. It might be nothing since he's a full year late with it, but that can be a serious threat to Sauber given they already have asked for an advance.
i think its actually the best move of Sutil to do so, as he's undoubtedly in a very strong position to be granted this money, and that it's a year late does not change the fact. I'd be inclined to say Sutil's lawyers might have advised him to wait until this year as the chances are last year would prove to big a financial choke for the hinwil-based outfit, and that if done last year chances would be bigger that he'd get less money. New year might result in him getting a similar arrangement as undertaken with the vdGarde affair, resulting in Sutil getting the full monty.
The problem with Sauber still seems to be the money problem [cashflow] and i think they really need to up their game and fix their results, running of operations, and their lack of sponsorship this year and fast, as i'm kind of suspecting that this will be the last year for Nasr being @ Sauber as i can see him move to another team in 2017. Williams or Force India would be my first thought. Perhaps Renault. And Marcus Ericsson brings some dough to the table but no talent, and i'm fairly convinced this is going to be his last year in F1.
On the other hand, Pastor Maldonado focusing on a 2017 F1 return could really see him @ Sauber in 2017. With PDVSA and perhaps another sponsor.
IF Nasr would stay at sauber i could definately see a Nasr-Maldonado combination @ Sauber come 2017.
Hell, i am almost certain that Marcus Ericsson has a well-arranged contract that guarantees him staying @ his seat this year. I don't know how much Marcus is bringing in, but i'm expecting Pastor to be able to bring in more , despite the Venezuelan scandals, PDVSA affairs and obvious cash flow problems of PDVSA which undoubtedly resulted in the ending of Pastor's '16 race contract - though it could be as simple as Renault having had the desire to ditch Pastor because of A) his 'performances' B) his reputation thanks to A, C) the reputation thanks to the affairs in Venezuela, D) combination of factors. If K-Mag's management offered them an acceptable financial offer compared to that of Pastor's, then it could very well be they simply took the opportunity or even sort of made the opportunity to quickly get rid of Pastor.
either way, i think marcus ericssons' contract is water-tight, especially based upon what happend at sauber before and that might be why pastor would come to sauber @ 2017 [ if at all ], instead of suddenly reading a message that Ericsson got ditched for Maldonado this season
i must say, it would be in a sense absolutely histerically hilarious to see Maldonado 'confirmed' for Ericsson's Sauber seat