Alexander Wurz has revealed that the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association now has the membership of the entire current field of Formula 1 drivers, the first time in recent memory that all drivers on the grid are part of the society.
The chairman of the GPDA says the desire to help the push from Formula 1 bosses to make the on-track action more spectacular for fans has brought the drivers together in order to get their own opinions heard, particularly as Wurz believes the sport is entering a period of change and potentially turmoil as Liberty Media exert itself on the sport.
“The GPDA now has 100 percent membership for the first time in recent memory and maybe history,” said Wurz. “So it was a very good year. F1 is entering a period of evolution, change and perhaps even a degree of turmoil.
“All the drivers recognise that they must be united and represented, in order to face that challenge and prevent any politics or fights for power from ultimately compromising on track performance.
“The drivers believe unity is fundamental for the sport’s success.”
Wurz insists the GPDA continues to strive for better racing and wants Liberty Media to focus on the cars and track performances, although he did praise them for listening to the drivers who suggested changes that could be made to the aerodynamic rules.
“The GPDA demands only that the sport remains the centre of attention and we want to hold everyone in the decision-making process accountable for their actions and decisions,” said Wurz.
“All adjustments to the sport should only be done and conducted in the best interest of the sport and not of any one individual, and this is what unites the drivers, this sheer will to keep F1 as the pinnacle of motor racing.
“We consider F1 as Sport, not show. A driver rightly so calls himself a sportsman and not showman, because it’s still about the most natural human aspiration – to go faster, higher, quicker.
“Great sport is what we love to see, if great sport is embedded in a suitably created show and race experience, that would indeed be good. If the sport sucks, everything around the sport itself is only expensive, inauthentic and semi irrelevant. We need on track competition, but not artificially created.
“We can’t be naive about the situation which F1 is in, with its complicated governing rules and agreements between various key stake holders. Business decisions and political power fights have damaged the sport enough at vulnerable times over the last decade.
“But the GPDA has repeatedly said that the on track action needs to be better, more closely fought and authentic.
“As such, we are glad that Liberty and their technical research team follow the GPDA’s suggestion from more than a year ago, where we wished for a less sensitive airflow concept of aerodynamic-related rules in order to be able to race closer.”
