Drivers should not be penalised for success - Coulthard
In has latest ITV-column, Red Bull Racing driver David Coulthard talks about the increased cost of driver super licenses. He however plays down the rumours of a strike as he believes they were wildly exaggerated.
David Coulthard said: "One controversial topic that the media picked up on in France was the escalating cost of driver super licences, although rumours of a strike were wildly exaggerated.
"I realise that F1 drivers are well-paid and our complaints may not elicit much sympathy from the public – but the fees have been increased by a massive amount this year, as much as 1000% in some cases. To take two examples, Robert Kubica will be paying around €90,000 and Fernando Alonso has to cough up over €200,000.
"The first the drivers knew about the huge hike was when we got an invoice, at which point we wrote to Max Mosley. We were due to meet him in Monaco but that was cancelled after the scandal about his private life broke and we’re now trying to schedule another meeting.
"Ultimately we would like to see the fees reduced, because we don’t believe any other professional sportspeople pay that sort of figure for a licence to compete. It just seems unfair, and the assumption that because you’re scoring a lot of points you must be earning a lot of money is baseless, since the FIA don’t know what is in the drivers’ contracts. In any case I don’t see why drivers should be penalised for success.
"And in terms of the use to which the money is put, all drivers benefit from the safety provisions, as indeed does everyone else involved in motorsport. Obviously the FIA have a big operation to pay for, with stewards, scrutineers and so on, but I think we need to understand better how that money is actually spent.
"Without being at all complacent, the drivers are happy with the current level of safety; we certainly don’t think it needs to be improved 1000%. This is not 1994 when there had to be a big investment to take it to the next level. We’ve successfully done that and now it’s about maintaining those high standards and improving on them incrementally where necessary.
"So we intend to meet with Max to discuss the issue, give our point of view and argue for a readjustment – because the price hike was just delivered as a fait accompli and wasn’t discussed. I think that’s an unreasonable approach, especially since the drivers contribute actively to safety improvements through the GPDA, which we fund from our own pockets and not through the FIA."
