Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn was able to leave Melbourne with a smile, happy to see the end of what she described as one of the worst weeks of her career.

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The first five and a half days from last Monday were overshadowed by a legal battle in the Supreme Court of Victoria with former reserve driver Giedo van der Garde and his claim on a full-time race-seat for this season.

That was resolved ahead of qualifying for the Australian GP, although further talks are planned this week.

Once Sauber and Kaltenborn were again able to concentrate on the racing, drivers Marcus Ericsson and rookie Felipe Nasr acquitted themselves well.

Nasr was a superb fifth – the highest position by a Brazilian driver on debut – while Ericsson’s eighthplace finish was the best result by a Swede since Stefan Johansson in the 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix.

When you consider Sauber failed to score a point last season, their feats around Melbourne’s Albert Park were all the more remarkable.

“It was a very nice ending to the weekend,” Kaltenborn said. “The events of last week were not easy for the entire team. But it was impressive how the team continued to remain focused and brought home the kind of result we saw.

“For me personally, last week was probably one of my toughest in my time at Sauber, and I don’t want to experience it again.”