Sebastian Vettel has shared more insight into the issue of the drastic price increase the FIA has leveraged for the mandatory Super License in F1. Max used the press to publicly humiliate the GPDA members who groused about the price increase and claimed it was for safety. This week, the GPDA released their own statement to the press, which was to the point and expository without the berating often found in Max’s statement.
When asked about the current situation and a possible strike prior to Australia, Vettel said:
“Everyone should be careful about how they treat this topic because then we could get headlines saying ‘Drivers dissatisfied’ or ‘Drivers to strike’.
“That (a strike) has never been spoken about. But the fact that we are not happy with how the increases were presented to us has been made clear.
“We are open to cooperate with the FIA. But what happens in the future remains to be seen.”
Vettel says that all drivers, including non-GPDA members, are standing firm in the issue as they seek a solution with the FIA.
“This does not only have to do with the GPDA, but it comes from all drivers. The statement we issued summed everything up.”
“Now is the critical phase,” he explained. “At the end of last year it appeared that there was nothing else for us to pay, so it annoys us how this whole thing has developed and that it has not been sorted.”
I have to agree with the GPDA here in that Max is egregiously wrong for airing these issues in public and attempting to humiliate some drivers who claimed financial difficulties. The method was poor and should be apologized for. The GPDA should hold firm and request the percentage of safety cost increases to justify the price of a super license. Otherwise, it is just the FIA fleecing the drivers…irrespective of how much they make.
