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In the days following the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association issued a statement regarding the FIA’s new hard-line stance on swearing in official press conferences.
It was the first time in seven years that the body representing the drivers had made such a public statement, highlighting the growing discontent with the current state of affairs.
“Talking as a fellow driver as opposed to my role with the GPDA, I think everybody felt with certain things that have happened over the course of this year that we wanted to stand united,” said Russell of the statement.
“We just want to be transparent with the FIA and have this dialogue that is happening, and I think the departure of Niels [Wittich] is also a prime example of not being a part of these conversations.”
Last week, it was announced that F1 race director Wittich had “stepped down from his position as F1 Race Director to pursue new opportunities.”
However, the German outlet Motorsport-Magazin subsequently revealed that he was sacked from the role.
“No, no idea whatsoever. It was a bit of a bit of surprise,” Russell said when asked if the drivers had been given any forewarning or indication that Wittich was on the way out.
“It’s a hell of a lot of pressure now onto the new race director, just three races left,” he added.
“Often as drivers, we probably feel like we’re the last to find out this sort of information and when it involves us kind of directly, it would be nice to be kept in the loop and just have an understanding of what decisions are being made.
“I’m sure the new guy will handle the position just fine, but definitely not an easy race for a new race director.”
Transparency is a central concern for the drivers, frustratingly so given FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem campaigned for the role emphasising his desire to increase transparency within the organisation.
“When we were hearing from the FIA a couple of years ago, when it came to the presidential elections, they were talking about transparency, talking about where the money is going to be reinvested into grassroots racing, which we’re all in favour for,” Russell noted.
“When it comes to some of these large fines, there’s a number of drivers on the grid who can comfortably afford these fines, there’s maybe some rookies on the grid that if they’re handed a $1 million fine, they can’t afford this.
“But if we know where that’s being sort of reinvested and if it’s going into grassroots or into some training programs, then we get it.
“We just want the transparency and understanding of what was promised from the beginning.”
There is also a sense among the drivers that their words are falling on deaf ears.
“It’s definitely not difficult to get a sit down [with Ben Sulayem], but I think getting things to change or getting promises upheld seems slightly more challenging,” Russell ventured.
“It’s maybe the FIA or the president didn’t recognise how seriously we all felt.
“That’s why over the course of 20 races this year, and also even last year, we spoke about a number of topics, all of the drivers. We all feel pretty similar.
“We all know what we want from the sport and the direction it’s been heading and we probably feel that we want to do a small U-turn on a number of topics and just want to work together with the FIA on this.
“We’ve felt has not been happening at all, at least directly from the president.”
That is partly what prompted the GPDA statement, a desire to apply some pressure by publishing it on social media.
“We recognise everybody’s working as hard as they can to do the best job possible,” Russell noted.
“There is obviously a huge amount of change within the FIA quite regularly, so it’s clearly not the most stable of places.
“Maybe that’s why it’s been a bit challenging to get some of the changes that we’ve wanted implemented.
“Of course, everyone has their own side to their own story.
“I think if we feel that we’re being listened to and some of the changes that we are experiencing, requesting, are implemented, because ultimately we’re only doing it for the benefit of the sport, then maybe our confidence will increase.
“But I think there’s a number of drivers who feel probably a bit fed up with the whole situation, and it only seems to be going in, to a degree, the wrong direction.”
For the moment, there has been no response to the GPDA statement, either publicly or privately.
