“When the GPDA was much more powerful…,” Jackie Stewart calls on the FIA to give more importance to the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association
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In the last few years, Formula 1 has undergone a paradigm shift as the governing body of the sport, the FIA, have set out to make it more even for all the teams. They have implemented a budget cap, and have brought in many more restrictions for the teams which have huge resources. This has left very little room for innovation and research in the sport, as many of the stakeholders in the top 3 teams of F1–Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, have claimed. Now, the FIA have issued a new directive restricting racers from making political comments without prior clearance.
Now, Sir Jackie Stewart has said that the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association should have a voice of their own to check the rampant changes that the FIA are bringing about since it is the drivers who actually go out on the racetrack and know their cars and their teams the best. The Briton talked about how the GPDA used to have more authority on matters related to Formula 1 during his time, and now, he feels like the drivers’ voices are left unheard because the FIA have commercialized the entire sport.
Stewart’s comment comes up only a few days after a similar quote was recorded from Lewis Hamilton. The two British Knights believe that the current situation in Formula 1 gives full authority to the FIA to do whatever they please with the rules, the Grand Prix schedules, etc. But if the drivers are given a voice of their own through the GPDA, then they will get involved in the decision-making process and this will make sure that all the rules are not unilaterally implemented.
The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association have been instrumental in bringing about several changes in F1 in the past
With George Russell as the current President of the GPDA, the drivers’ body is still very much existent in F1 but over the years, their voice has somewhat mellowed. Sir Jackie Stewart believes this is not how t should be. He said, “I was the President of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, when the GPDA was much more powerful than it is today, by the way.“
In the past, the GPDA has been the main force behind removing the Nurburgring from the calendar after 1976, and they also played a crucial role in organising a driver’s strike at the 1982 South African Grand Prix. The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association was then disbanded but they came together again following the death of Roland Ratzenberger at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
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