Drivers hit back in licences row

Share

Formula One drivers have hit out at the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in a row over the increasing cost of the licence they need to race.

The price rose almost five-fold to 10,000 Euros (£8700) in 2008, and will go up in line with inflation this year.

The Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) says it is unfair and the FIA is using it to fill budgetary gaps.

FIA boss Max Mosley said the claims were "nonsense" but drivers have been advised not to sign the 2009 licences.

"The proposed increases are inherently unfair, both in the way they were introduced and they way they impact on individual drivers," said a statement from the GPDA, which claims the costs were opposed unanimously by the drivers.

But Mosley responded by insisting that drivers were not really in a position to complain because of the salaries they earn.

"In the present climate, somebody who is earning several million a year and doesn't want to spend one or two per cent of that to get a licence for his trade is not going to get a lot of sympathy," he said.

He said the FIA might reconsider in a case of genuine hardship, but drivers should first disclose their gross earnings, a gesture which would be "irrelevant", according to the GPDA.

"Drivers' gross (and net) earnings are confidential to the drivers, their management and financial advisors and any relevant tax authorities, and should be respected as such," the association's statement said.

It added that drivers were not opposed to a "reasonable increase", but did not want their licences to be a "revenue stream" for the FIA.

"The FIA should raise sufficient funds from the exploitation of its commercial rights," the statement continued.

"As a principle, the drivers should not be taxed to fund the costs of others fulfilling their legal duty to the drivers."