 Just prior to the held on 13 to 15 March 2015, van der Garde applied to an Australian court who ordered, at first instance on 11 March and on 12 March following Sauber's failed appeal, that he be permitted to race in Melbourne.Due to the risk of having its assets seized for not obeying Court orders, Sauber opted to abort participation in Friday morning's first practice session pending an outcome in contempt of court proceedings against Sauber's team principal, Monisha Kaltenborn.Based on media speculation, however, thanks to an intervention by Bernie Ecclestone to avoid further negative publicity on the sport, Ericsson and Nasr were able to take part in Friday afternoon's second practice session.