Sergio Perez hopes GPDA has a larger say and can influence in F1 decision making regarding certain rules that drivers opine on.
There is a constant opinion flow in the F1 paddock whether it is the rule makers or the team heads or even drivers. Now the former two are represented via F1 Commission where they discuss about matters, the latter don’t really have a huge say in those matters.
There is Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, but they aren’t an official body to influence in a huge capacity especially in rules framing and changes on the go. There is dialogue still from the GPDA side to F1 and the FIA regarding what they feel about certain things.
Safety is one topic where the drivers are heard more but a lot of other topics get mixed response. They are heard but not always implemented or if implemented, a lot of time has passed. Red Bull’s Perez hopes that there is more GPDA influence in the coming time.
“I think would be nicer if the GPDA could have a little bit more influence, because GPDA is not just a single driver,” said Perez. “It’s the board, it’s the majority of all of us that are living the sport and yeah, it would be nice to see in the near future that they will consider more the opinion of the GPDA as an association.”
His teammate Max Verstappen somewhat concurs but knows that there is too much politics in the sport which sometimes derails certain things. “I think it just sometimes has too many rules that they have to take into account and too many politics as well to make a change or decision,” he said. “Of course, I would like to, as the GPDA, to have a say.
“I would like to be the owner of F1 if I could, you know what I mean, but that’s not the real world. But, yeah, we keep expressing our concerns, but also what has been done correctly. And we keep that dialogue, let’s say, open, we try to always make them listen, and we listen as well, we tried to communicate and we’ll see what comes out of it in the coming years.”
McLaren’s Lando Norris feels that no matter how much the F1 drivers say, it eventually is in the hands of rule makers and they are the decision makers. “I just said that we don’t have control of the decisions,” he said. “Of course, they listen to us and they take it on board but if we go ask ‘can you please do this’ all of a sudden, of course they listen to it but it doesn’t mean it’s going to be something that gets changed straightaway. And sometimes it’s for later on down the line.”
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