[Fot] And we complain our Club licensing fees

[David W. Riddle]

SCCA, NASA, (name your organization) are down
right cheap compared to what F1 drivers now have to pay for their licenses.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=43035

Fernando Alonso has labelled the increased in
superlicence fees as "ridiculous" and says the
Grand Prix Drivers' Association is discussing its response to the change.

Last year drivers had to pay 1,725 (#1,286) plus
456 (#340) per point scored in the previous
years championship for the mandatory
superlicence, but from this season that figure
has risen to 10,000 (#7,452) plus 2,000 (#1,490) per point scored in 2007.

FIA president Max Mosley believes the change was
necessary so that drivers were making an adequate
contribution to funding safety improvements.

However GPDA director Alonso has hit out at the extent of the price hike.

"I think it is a ridiculous amount," he told reporters in Franace.

"We drivers should pay our superlicence at a reasonable price, thats all.

"It cannot change by one thousand percent from one year to another."

There have been rumours in the Magny-Cours
paddock that the drivers are considering strike
action - a prospect that Alonso did not rule out.

"I think we have not many possibilities, but for
sure its one of the things we are talking about in the GPDA," he said.

"Maybe we need to do something all together,
because as a group we have much more [influence] than one single person."


But world champion Kimi Raikkonen believes strike action is unlikely.

"Of course its better if its not so expensive
and its the same for everybody, but I dont
think theres any reason to go on strike and not race," he said.

"I dont think thats the right way to go but it
would be nice if we could reduce it.

"Its never going to happen that all the drivers will strike.

"Hopefully there is some nice solution that can be found at some point."

Alonso said he is not only pushing for a
reduction from 2009, but for the sums already paid this year to be refunded.

"We need to find an agreement, for this year as
well," he told ITV Sport's Ted Kravitz.

"What we paid already for 2008, maybe we need to
have a refund or something, because it was something ridiculous.

"All the drivers agree about this, so hopefully
we can put some efforts into that."

Championship leader Robert Kubica added that he
was uncomfortable with the fact that drivers who
scored fewer points had to pay a lower fee, as
drivers' wages did not always match their scoring rate.

"Its quite a lot of money, especially if you are
scoring points like Lewis (Hamilton) did last
year and its your first year in Formula 1," he said.


"But another point is that experienced drivers
who dont have a quick car are not scoring
points, so they dont care because they dont have to pay.

"So I think it will be difficult to get all
drivers to have the same idea but we are trying
to convince the FIA to reduce the cost."

Kubica added that he was fully supportive of the
FIA's safety initiatives and happy to help fund
them, but just wanted to see an equal
superlicence price for everyone on the grid.

"The FIA is saying that it goes to safety and I
agree, safety is very important, so in the end,
if the standard of safety can improve, we should pay for it," he said.

"My case last year and Heikki Kovalainens
(accident) this year in Barcelona show that the
FIA is making a great effort and doing a very good job in safety.

"But then I dont see the point why some drivers
have to pay more and some others not.

"In the end, we are all on the same track driving F1 cars."