As far as the superlicense goes, the FIA’s new rules on just what has to be achieved in a driver’s career in order to get one is being challenged by none other than Williams F1 reserve driver, Susie Wolff. No, she wouldn’t qualify for a superlicense regardless of her role as reserve driver.
Wolff isn’t the only non-qualifying driver who logged testing miles and in the case of Pascal Werhlein, bailed out an ill Lewis Hamilton by taking his seat at Mercedes to complete their testing day. Pascal has won race in European F3 and DTM and yet according to the new FIA regulations, he still has not gained enough points to warrant a superlicense. Wolff says this is wrong and needs changing:
“It can’t be like that,” Wolff said. “Pascal is in a different place to me, he’s an up-and-coming driver. He’s a guy that it can’t limit the likes of him coming in.
“We’ve got to be aware of the fact that the time in a Formula 1 car is absolutely so valuable because it’s so limited.
“So every kilometre you can do gives you an advantage as a driver. It gives you experience and it can’t be overlooked completely.”
One thing I will say is that the FIA regulations rank and weight each feeder series with a points system that drivers must use to accumulate a total that would qualify for a superlicense. The one missing element from that list is the very thing they are trying to do…drive a Formula 1 car. I hadn’t thought of it that way but Susie is right, if being a reserve driver and logging serious testing miles doesn’t account for anything, have we not missed the point?
Getting a chance to drive a F1 car is a rare thing and it requires a superlicense to compete. So why wouldn’t the gravity of that weigh toward testing the cars? I’m not referring to taking a straightline lap or two, I mean true testing like Susie and Pascal did in Barcelona last week. Seems to me they could get a few points for that at least, no? What do you think?
Hat Tip: AUTOSPORT
