“We urge the FIA President to consider his own tone and language when talking to our member drivers or indeed about them, whether in a public forum or otherwise.”
That was the line from the Instagram post made by the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association on November 7, 2024 that stuck out to me the most. The following statement was co-signed by all 20 drivers on the Formula 1 Grid, as well as other members of the Association including revered names such as Sebastian Vettel and Alexander Wurz (current chairman).
In American terms, the GPDA is a union. Its aim is to protect the safety of drivers and the sanctity of F1 for the best interests of the competition and for fans. While that may seem like a simple concept - the history of the GPDA is complicated.
The INITIAL Grand Prix Drivers' Association was created as a response to increasing concerns about driver safety in Formula 1. Drivers felt that their concerns of track safety protocols including medical station requirements were not being addressed by the race organizers or governing bodies (the FIA). They wanted a seat at the FIA table.
This version of the GPDA was disbanded after events at the 1982 South African Grand Prix - the infamous drivers’ strike. To provide a quick recap - all drivers on the grid refused to race due to contractual decisions made that would lock them into a team for 3 years with no choice in the matter post-signing. After this strike, the drivers did win BUT as aforementioned, the GPDA was disbanded.
The Grand Prix Drivers Association was reinstated by sporting legends Niki Lauda, Gerard Berger, Christian Fittipaldi, and Michael Schumacher following the tragic deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino Grand Prix.
GPDA was incorporated into GPDA Ltd. (meaning permanent company status) with a formal constitution and offices in Monaco.
We live in a very divided society in 2024 - from a global level, down to the F1 community. That being said, the power of social media is absolutely undeniable.
When ‘the man’ won’t listen to you in private? Bring your message to the masses.
When the masses are calling for change? Tell them you are too.
Fans and drivers alike have been loudly criticizing the decisions of the FIA over the past few years. From the jewelry ban, to the underwear rule, to this new cursing regulation… I even have an op-ed about this same censorship and infantilization of drivers from a couple of weeks ago.
There are a lot of different directions that I could take this conversation, but focusing on the intentionality of the GPDA’s message is most important.
The GPDA has a history of making public statements against the governing body of the FIA, but most are very pointedly related to contracts or lack of safety. Where I think this statement differs is its allusion to charged language used by the FIA President, self- expression and determination of drivers, and lack of fiscal transparency. It says more without saying MORE - a direct callout of Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
While this GPDA statement itself strays from many of their prior joint statements towards the FIA in tone and language, the idea that I find most powerful is that it was posted to social media. It could, in fact, be that in calling for transparency, they started the ball rolling in being transparent, themselves.
However, what I truly find most powerful is how social media has become the most important part of most of our lives and its impact on the sport of Formula 1. The drivers clearly recognize this… they created an entire Instagram account to prove that.
The numbers don’t lie. The sport gained over 40 million social media followers across platforms from 2019 to 2022 alone. This is not to mention 2023 and this landmark season, 2024. Also excluding the BOOM of motorsports content creators, fan accounts, publications, small businesses (including where you’re reading this article now), and Drive to Survive.
One would hope that the FIA re-evaluates the restrictions that they put on F1 drivers. That’s the obvious answer. Refocus their governance on safety rather than placing restrictions on drivers that are simply ‘good for ratings’ and for stakeholders (although I’m sure after this public statement… those stakeholders are definitely unhappy NOW).
What can we hope for as fans, though? We can hope that this transparency from our favorite teams and drivers continues.
Social media is a powerful tool and we can hope that this is a sign that those with power in the sport ARE listening.
I didn’t even dive into the financial implications of this letter - that fines are inappropriate for the drivers and that no one knows where these fines go. That if fines are maintained as a form of driver and team punishment, they should go to a place that “FIA, F1, the Teams, and the GPDA” jointly agree upon for “the benefit of our Sport”.
While I am the ‘marketing girl’ and not the ‘financial girl’ this part of the statement sums up not only our thoughts and feelings as fans, but the shared thoughts and feelings of the drivers: Everything should be done for the benefit of the Sport and NOT for even MORE money or personal opinions of the men in charge.
There is a big question mark that is yet to be answered on IF FIA regulations as of late ARE truly for the betterment of the sport. The drivers say “no”, and it’s fair to say that we, the fans, agree.
