F1 Drivers Hit Out At Licence Costs

F1 drivers have reacted strongly against the move by the FIA, led by controversial president Max Mosley, to increase the super licence that allows them to compete in the sport.

Last year the cost of the super driver’s licence was set at £1,354 plus £357 per point won.

However the FIA has increased it this season on a retrospective basis to £7,858 plus £1,570 per point won.

The new legislation means, for example, that Lewis Hamilton and world champion Kimi Raikkonen would pay around £180,000 for their points hauls from last season.

Commented Renault driver Fernando Alonso: ‘It’s a ridiculous amount. We should pay a reasonable price. It cannot change 1,000% in a year.

Talking about a potential strike, he added: ‘We don’t have many possibilities. But for sure it’s one of the options we are talking about in the GPDA. We need to do something all together because as a group we have more effect than as a single person.’

Mosley believes it is not a lot to ask from well-paid drivers who benefit from high levels of spending on safety, but the GPDA may ask for a rethink.

There is also the issue that not every driver pays his own licence with a number of the teams footing the bill on behalf of their drivers.