The Grand Prix Drivers Association has published an open letter to the FIA, FOM and Formula One’s stakeholders demanding a change to the way the sport is run.
Signed by GPDA chairman Alex Wurz, along with current drivers Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button, the letter calls for the “obsolete and ill-structured” decision-making process to be replaced by a new system that “should reflect the principles and core values of Formula 1”.
In recent seasons, the sport has come under intense criticism for numerous affairs. The first is the way the rules for the new hybrid power units were drawn up, missing out cost caps and clear development rules.
After Marussia and Caterham went into administration at the end of 2014, coupled with Sauber’s ongoing financial troubles, attention was once again raised to the distribution of the prize money that is paid out by FOM. The move to pay television has, unsurprisingly, also proved unpopular.
Despite the season-opening Australian Grand Prix being hugely entertaining, it was overshadowed by the disastrous introduction of the elimination style qualifying format – which may not be able to be changed if Force India do not change their stance.
Such a problem was noted in the letter.
“The drivers have come to the conclusion that the decision-making process in the sport… prevents progress being made. Indeed, it can sometimes lead to just the opposite, a gridlock.”
Last year, the GPDA launched a fan survey to try and get a general opinion of what the viewers liked about Formula One and what they wanted to change. Nothing was done to change the sport following the publication of the results.
The announcement of the change to qualifying was met with widespread dissatisfaction amongst the drivers, teams and fans alike – reigniting calls for the fans’ voice to be heard by Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa over the testing period and Australian Grand Prix weekend. The GPDA’s letter appears to be an extension of this.
The letter in full:
Twitter: The Grand Prix Drivers would like to make the following statement. #RacingUnited https://t.co/EkdmIz2U2j (@GPDA_)
