Giedo van der Garde withdraws from Australian Grand Prix

Giedo van der Garde has decided to skip the Australian Grand Prix following a court decision that Sauber must honor its contract with the Dutch driver.

Van der Garde released a statement on his Facebook page Friday to announce his decision only several hours before qualifying for Sunday's season-opener race was set to begin.

"As I am a passionate race driver this decision has been very difficult for me," said van der Garde.

"However I also wish to respect the interest of the FIA, Sauber Motorsport, as well as (Felipe) Nasr and (Marcus) Ericsson. My management will continue talks with Sauber early next week to find a mutually acceptable solution for the current situation that has now arisen.

"I am confident such solution will be found and I will inform the media once done."

Sauber, which earlier this week was compelled to give van der Garde a seat by an Australian court, can now move forward at least for the weekend before any permanent decision is made.

Van der Garde served as a test driver for Sauber last year before signing a contract to take over a regular seat for Swiss team. 

Sauber, however, later signed and backed Nasr and Ericsson as its drivers despite an arbitration court initially ruling in van der Garde's favour in December.

Van der Garde still requires a super-license to race this season.