Drivers in new dispute over superlicence fees

Formula One drivers are refusing to sign their mandatory FIA superlicences amid a fresh dispute with the sport's governing body about their price, autosport.com can reveal.

Last season drivers were unhappy about a price hike from 1,725 Euros plus 456 Euros per point for the licences, to 10,000 Euros plus 2,000 Euros per point for the 2008 season.

They accepted the payments then, however, despite calling on the FIA and Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone to justify the increase in costs.

Former world champion Fernando Alonso said at the time: "It is a very serious matter...we all agree that it is not fair that from one year to the next it (the cost) increases 500-600 percent."

There was talk mid-season of the matter resulting in a drivers' strike at the British Grand Prix, but these reports proved unfounded.

However, high level sources have revealed to autosport.com that drivers have now taken the matter into their own hands because of a further minor increase in the licence costs due to be introduced for the 2009 season.

The price of a licence has increased by 400 Euros (to 10,400 Euros), while drivers must pay an extra 100 Euros ( to 2100 Euros) per point scored. There is also a 2,720 Euros compulsory insurance charge.

Although the 2009 increases are purely the result of inflation, it is understood that the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) is deeply unhappy about the price increase. Under the current fees, world champion Lewis Hamilton will have to pay 218,920 Euros for his licence fees this year.

The GPDA has taken up the matter on behalf of its representatives to try and get the increases cancelled, and has urged drivers not to sign and pay for the licences until the situation is sorted.

Autosport.com understands that correspondence has already been exchanged with the FIA about the matter, and is understood that president Max Mosley said he was willing to discuss the situation, but only if drivers could provide him with details of their earnings so he could judge whether the fee was too high.

With no resolution in sight between the drivers and the FIA, and amid a risk of the situation not getting sorted before teams head to Melbourne for the first race, the matter has now been tabled for discussion at the next meeting of the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) that takes place early next month.

This week the GPDA urged drivers not to sign their superlicence paperwork, despite pressure beginning to come from their teams, before the FOTA meeting.

In an e-mail sent to drivers by the GPDA, a copy of which has been seen by autosport.com, it was made clear that the drivers' body wanted all members to hold firm.

"(The) Superlicence issue will be addressed at the next FOTA meeting which will take place on February 3," said the email. "We would like you to wait approximately three more weeks to sign or pay for the Superlicence.

"This should give us enough time to hear from the FOTA and at the same time increase our pressure on the FIA."

It is not clear how much FOTA will wish to get involved in the drivers' situation, with sources suggesting teams do not wish the superlicence matter to overshadow progress being made between them and the FIA about cost cuts and other changes to the sport.

Mosley said at the start of last year that the licence fee had increased so much because of the rising costs of safety.

"We spend a fortune on safety and most of it is for the benefit of the drivers," Mosley explained. "A lot of the people who have otherwise been meeting the bill said 'Hang on a minute, these drivers are all earning megabucks and we are spending a fortune to try and make sure they are safe. So hence the increase."

SOURCE: Autosport

I don't see what they are complaining about, they earn loads, I think they should just leave the fee at the price it is at the minute.

We all know that the finances goes to alcohol & strippers for the christmas party anyway :P ... or women dressed as nazis in Max Mosley's case :lol:

MOSLEY: Licence grumble "nonsense"

FIA president Max Mosley thinks that drivers' complaints that the high cost of the Formula One superlicence is causing them hardship are 'nonsense'.

F1 drivers are holding off in processing their mandatory superlicences as they await the outcome of moves to try to get the fee system restructured.

They are unhappy that over the past two seasons the superlicence fee has risen from 1,725 Euros plus 456 Euros per point in 2007, to 10,400 Euros plus 2100 Euros per point for this year.

As well as the rise, some believe the way that the fee for a driver goes up based purely on points is also unfair. Such a scenario could penalise a low paid driver who scores a lot of points.

One driver said: "It is like telling a car manufacturer that they will have to pay more taxes simply because they sell more cars, rather than basing it on profit. It would be fairer if the superlicence fee was based on earnings."

Mosley confirmed that the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) has written to the FIA to ask them to consider the situation, with him responding that he will look into the matter if they can provide details of their income. He said that he had not received an answer from the drivers yet.

"They said there was hardship, so I wrote to them saying that if you give me your total earnings I will have a look," explained Mosley during a media lunch in London on Thursday.

"Obviously if there is hardship then we will rearrange it. But for some reason they didn't want to give me their total earnings. (But) I think it is all nonsense. Anybody who has got a lot of points has got a lot of money."

The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) is understood to have discussed the superlicence situation during its meeting earlier this week, but sources suggest the body would prefer for the matter to be sorted out between the drivers and the FIA without it getting involved.

Mosley made it clear that no driver would be allowed to compete in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix without a superlicence.

"I haven't had any super licences put in front of me to sign by drivers, but that doesn't usually happen for another four or five weeks," he said. "All I can say is that nobody is going to drive in a world championship race in Australia unless they have a superlicence."

Mosley said he felt that the timing of the drivers' complaints was unwise because of the financial difficulties faced by the rest of the world.

"In the present climate, somebody who is earning several million a year and doesn't want to spend one or two percent of that to get a licence for his trade is not going to get a lot of sympathy," he said. "And maybe we will have a quiet Friday in Melbourne..."

The GPDA has declined to comment about the superlicence situation.

SOURCE: Autosport

VETTEL: GPDA OPEN TO SUPERLICENCE TALKS

Sebastian Vettel insits that the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) is willing to work with the FIA to seek a solution to its dispute over the superlicence issue - as he plays down talk of a possible strike in Australia.

The GPDA is unhappy about the increases in the fees of the superlicence that have been introduced over the past two seasons, claiming that drivers feel the hike in costs are 'inherently unfair'.

And although FIA president Max Mosley said last week that F1 could brace itself for a quiet Friday at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix if the matter is not sorted by then, Vettel has played down any talk that the drivers are considering a protest.

When asked by the German newspaper Rheinische Post if a strike was possible in Melbourne, Vettel said: "No, I do not see that, because we want to drive.

"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."

Vettel added that the drivers are upset that the situation has not been resolved despite discussions with the FIA throughout last year.

"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."

Autosport.com understands that the FIA is pressing on with sorting out the superlicence paperwork as normal, despite the drivers saying they will only pay for 2008 and 2009 fees based on the 1690 Euro fee that was levied for 2007.

Teams were reminded as a matter of course this week that the licence applications should be submitted as soon as possible.

SOURCE: Autosport

Yes united stance etc etc

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2009/02/12/three-drivers-break-rank-in-fia-licence-battle/

Whoops!

GLOCK: LICENCE FEES NOT FAIR FOR ALL

Timo Glock has said that high superlicence fees cannot be fair for all drivers, because not every racer earns multi-million pound pay packets.

F1 drivers are unhappy about a dramatic increase in the cost of their mandatory superlicences, which have rocketed from 1,690 Euros in 2007 to 10,400 Euros for this year, plus a points fee that has jumped from 447 Euros per point in 2007 to 2,100 Euros per point for this year.

And although the drivers' complaints have led some to accuse them of being removed from the real life difficulties faced by thousands who could lose their jobs amid the worldwide recession, Glock believes it wrong to suggest that F1's racers are quibbling over a tiny percentage of their earnings.

"Maybe not everyone is a millionaire in F1," Glock told autosport.com about his feelings on the situation.

"It is my first year, and it is expensive. It is an expensive licence, and you see in all other motorsport categories that there is not even anything close to that amount of money. But it is for everyone the same."

Glock will have to pay 62,900 Euros for his licence for 2009, as a result of the 25 points he scored last year.

He says that although the drivers have no choice in needing to pay for the licences, he still wants some answers about why the costs are so high.

"We have to wait and see (what happens), but in the end I don't know why we have to pay so much money," he said. "For me it is too extreme the increase from last year to this year, and from 2007 to 2008.

"The point is that there is no real explanation for that amount of increase. At the end, we have to pay for it. That is how it is."

Glock said he was not one of the three unidentified drivers whose licences had been paid and submitted to the FIA by their teams, but hoped the matter could be resolved soon.

"I will sort it out in the next couple of days," he said. "In the end to race in F1 we have to have one, and let's wait and see."

SOURCE: Autosport