THE word "strike" was tentatively mentioned in Formula 1 circles yesterday as drivers expressed their concern about the cost of their super licence this year.
The document allows them to compete in F1 and up until recently it cost £1,354, plus an additional £357 for each point won. However, FIA president Max Mosley opted to bring in new levies at the start of the season of £7,858 for the licence and £1,570
per point.
The new legislation was imposed retrospectively, which meant the likes of Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso all paid around £180,000 to compete in F1 last season. Mosley feels that is not a lot to ask from well-paid drivers who benefit from high levels of spending on safety, but the Grand Prix Drivers' Association are up in arms.
Alonso said: "It's a ridiculous amount. We should pay a reasonable price. It cannot change 1,000 per cent in a year."
When questioned about drivers voicing their protest via a strike, the Renault driver added: "We don't have many possibilities. But for sure it's one of the options we are talking about in the GPDA. We need to do something all together because as a group we have more effect than as a single person."
However, Red Bull driver David Coulthard insisted: "There's not going to be a strike. That's rubbish!
Not every driver pays his super licence. Some of the drivers have an agreement in their contract where the team pay the super licence. As it's a form of income for the FIA they have decided 'well, we will take part of that from the drivers.'
"But it's affecting some and not others, which is not entirely fair, so it needs to be discussed and understood."
Raikkonen said: "I don't think there is any reason to strike. It's not the right way to go about things."
The drivers were scheduled to meet Mosley in Monaco, though due to the furore surrounding the 68-year-old at the time, the meeting was postponed.
The full article contains 351 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
