Giedo van der Garde appears set to get a Sauber seat after a court ruled in his favour in Melbourne on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court of Victoria upheld Van der Garde's claim to a right to drive in one of Sauber's two seats at the Australian Grand Prix.
Sauber sacked the Dutchman late last year, with Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson contracted.
But Van der Garde argued his contract gave him a right to drive in 2015 and he took Sauber to court.
A court in Switzerland ruled in Van der Garde's favour and the Supreme Court of Victoria upheld that judgment on Wednesday.
Lawyers for Sauber had argued allowing the 29-year-old to drive would be dangerous due to Van der Garde having no experience in driving the C34 Ferrari, nor a seat that fitted him.
Following the court's ruling, Sauber CEO and team principal Monisha Kaltenborn said: "We are disappointed with this decision and now need to take time to understand what it means and the impact it will have on the start of our season.
"What we cannot do is jeopardise the safety of our team, or any other driver on the track, by having an unprepared driver in a car that has now been tailored to two other assigned drivers."