1982 South African Grand Prix flashback

Grand Prix flashback

Posted on

| Written by

Over on the F1 Fanatic Forum we’ve been discussing a surprising story on German website Auto Motor und Sport suggesting that F1 drivers are planning to go on strike at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Why? Well apparently they’re unhappy about the extra money the FIA demanded from them for their superlicences at the beginning of the year. Perhaps this was to marginalise the influence of their union, the GPDA. Other rumours suggest the FIA found itself with a budget shortfall for 2008 and is using over $1m from the drivers to make up the deficit. Either way, they’re not happy.

But the idea they might go on strike is crazy, surely? Perhaps – but it has happened before in another row over drivers’ licenses…

Superlicence row

A row brew up in 1982 over a new clause that had been inserted into the drivers’ superlicenses:

‘I am committed to the above team to drive exclusively for them in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship(s) until the [date].’
[…]
‘I will do nothing which might harm the moral or material interests or image of International Motorsport or the FIA Formula 1 World Championship’

The leading critics of the change in the superlicence included the more experienced drivers: Didier Pironi (Ferrari), Niki Lauda (returning from a two-year mini-retirement to McLaren) and Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari). The latter had seen the consequences of a similar clause introduced in the North American National Hockey League and recognised that it would diminish a driver’s freedom to change team if he wished.

These three all refused to sign the new deal along with Rene Arnoux (Renault), Bruno Giacomelli and Andrea de Cesaris (both Alfa Romeo). But having voiced their objections to the governing body no agreement had been reached before the first race of the season at at Kyalami in South Africa.

The drivers’ representatives and the F1 Commission met on the Wednesday before the race (the Grand Prix taking place on a Saturday) and Pironi explained the drivers would not participate if the contracts were not altered.

FISA President Jean-Marie Balestre retaliated that no changes could be made without bringing the matter before the FIA Executive back in Europe – and that the drivers who had not got their licenses would not be allowed to compete. There would be no compromise.

A coach full of drivers and an empty track

And so at 7am the following morning the drivers arrived at the circuit to find Lauda and Pironi aboard a cream and burgundy coach, hired overnight by the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association. The drivers all boarded (except for Jochen Mass who arrived late at the circuit) and instead of going to the circuit to practice the drivers went to Sunnyside Park Hotel in a suburb of Kyalami.

Bernie Ecclestone was predictably furious and railed at the striking drivers:

We have been watching Ferraris for fifty years. Ferrari has had God knows how many drivers. They come and go but still all that people want to see is a Ferrari. They cannot see the bleeding driver anyway! Really, I ask you, what asset are they?

Meanwhile the ‘assets’ were preparing for a night in the hotel. The ringleaders reasoned that if all the drivers were given their own rooms, some would lose heart and make a break for it. So they locked themselves in a conference room. Derek Warwick said afterwards:

You know what was fantastic? I got to know my colleagues for the first time because, being a non-qualifier at the back of the grid, you don’t get a chance to speak to the guys at the front.

‘He ran like a chicken’

For entertainment Lauda told jokes, Giacomelli scribbled cartoons, and Elio de Angelis and Gilles Villeneuve took turns at the piano: de Angelis playing classical music, Villeneuve hammering out Scott Joplin ragtime tunes.

The only driver to abandon the strike was Teo Fabi, when Toleman boss Alex Hawkridge came to talk to him. According to Keke Rosberg (pictured above):

He ran like a chicken and lost our respect forever – not because he left, but because he betrayed us. He went straight to Ecclestone and Balestre, and told them everything we had discussed.

Fabi, for his part, insists the stories of him climbing out of a toilet window are exaggerated.

A practice session for one driver

Pironi met with Balestre again at 6am on Friday, and reported back to Lauda that no progress had been made. Practice began at 10am and the only car to venture out on track was Mass’s March – to which every team at the track held out a pit board.

An hour later the other drivers returned to the track. Mass, who insisted all along the strike was doomed to failure, later claimed they’d panicked after hearing he’d taken to the track. The drivers claimed they had obtained assurances from Balestre that none of them would be punished for striking.

The latter point certainly proved to be false – the drivers received a mix of $10,000 and $5,000 fines, and suspended race bands varying in length from two to five events.

But Mass’s insistence the strike would fail also proved wrong. In between the South African and Brazilian rounds (the Argentine round having been cancelled) the FIA Court of Appeal reduced the size of the fines and the length of the bans, and criticised FISA for attempting to censure the drivers.

Finally, the superlicence was amended to scrub out the clause that had been at the heart of all the trouble.

A repeat in 2008?

Would today’s drivers dare risk repeating such an extraordinary gamble as this? It’s hard to believe – but in the past 12 months we’ve heard about chief designers sending 780 page dossiers on their rivals down to the local photocopying shop, and the FIA president being embroiled in a sadomasochistic sex scandal. Bizarre things seem to happen all the time in F1 these days.

Any politically astute drivers may have spotted an opportunity to capitalise on the conflict between Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone, which has echoes of Ecclestone’s conflict with Balestre around the time of the 1982 strike.

I wouldn’t bet anything on it of course, it’s probably just a scurrilous rumour, but one that gives a good excuse to rattle off one of F1’s more bizarre stories.

All the same I think when Robert Kubica sets off for Silverstone he should pack his poker set. Just to be on the safe side.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

31 comments on “1982 South African Grand Prix flashback”

  1. Keith, if this is true, soon the FIA will be inviting no one to the press conferences haha.

  2. …Kimi can bring along a bottle of vodka for everyone while Massa does his Fonz impersonation.

    I don’t see this actually happening,I can understand WHY they are not happy with the FIA for making up thier losses on the drivers but,for all the money they make they should just shut up and drive.(the licenses are a drop in the bucket for what they make)

  3. I don’t think there’ll be any strike over the superlicences, simply because the drivers as a group are much less politically charged than they were 26 years ago. They may have reason to complain, but until they get the GPDA to be a stronger voice than it is, any eventuality that depends on the drivers acting in unison remains unlikely.

  4. normally the teams pay for the drivers superlicence.

    hereby stopping any potential backlash.

  5. Er, no, sush.

    The money used to pay for them comes from the drivers salaries. Sure, we can say it’s a drop in the wide financial sea for them, but I guess they’re against it as a matter of principle.

  6. I thought that Sutil was piano player, not violinist :-)

  7. Robert McKay
    19th June 2008, 8:19

    If the story has even an inkling of truth, the drivers are very slow to react, given that the announcement of changes to the superlicence were made months and months ago.

  8. Doesn’t the fact that the teams effectively pay for the Superlicences mean that the drivers are being forced to stick with one team each year? It makes you wonder what deals go on when a driver (ie Alonso), decides he wants to move on.
    Also, presumably Super Aguri or Honda have paid for Sato’s and Davidson’s Superlicences, but if they are no longer competing, that is wasted money….
    I think if the GPDA were to be strong again, it would be a good device for ensuring Bernie didn’t get his own way in everything.

  9. How can the FIA be short of money with all the McLaren money in their coffers?

    Also, I think you mean Balestre rather than Briatore in the third to last paragraph.

  10. Milos & Andrew – thanks for the proof reading! Sutil’s dad was the violinist I was thinking of.

    As far as Pitpass is concerned: Striking’s bad, mmm’kay (apologies to anyone who doesn’t get the South Park reference).

  11. Well for some drivers this is actually a significant amount of money. Don’t forget that there are only a few ones that make so much money that paying 100k+ for a year makes no difference to them.
    If Max wouldn’t have screwed the FIA over with Bernie, the FIA would never have a money problem in the first place. Just a 10% share of the TV money would do rather nicely…

  12. Hmmm. I mentioned this on the forum, but I’ll repeat it here. Could it be that this is a springboard to a ploy to squeeze Max out? The drivers won’t be able to muster enough support for a strike unless the teams support them. We know that the teams are now anti-Max. If they go support their drivers, and say “If Max doesn’t have the support of the drivers, whom we support, he doesn’t have our support too.” Bernie may be pulling the strings on this one.

    And do note, Pedro de la Rosa from McLaren is currently the GPDA lead.

  13. not all drivers are part of the GPDA though?

    Kimi, Massa and Lewis are not, I believe, correct me if i’m wrong (go on journeyer!, you know you want to!).

    so if the GPDA go on strike only they will race?

  14. Hahaha, you’re hilarious, Sush! But yes, you’re right. :p

    That brings up a very interesting point: if the drivers go on strike ala 1982, will the 3 of them (as well as the other non-GPDA members) join the drivers, or stay with the teams? That depends on where the teams stand. If the teams support the GPDA, expect those 3 to join the picket line. Otherwise, they’ll stay as far away as possible from the others.

  15. I suspect in that situation, Raikkonen and Massa would stay with Ferrari because the probability of Ferrari rebelling against the FIA is remote. For all that the Ferrari leadership may have misgivings about Mosley, they probably know that the position that gives Ferrari the most strength is the one it is currently in. And with Badoer and Gené on the testing roster, it wouldn’t even need to recruit anyone new in the unlikely event that its current racers did join the rebellion. Knowing replacements are easy for Ferrari to get – and that their pay packets are big enough that the licences really are drops in the ocean, Raikkonen and Massa will surely toe the line.

    However, not all teams pay for their driver’s superlicences. It wouldn’t surprise me if Sutil was one of the ones who has to pay for his out of his own pocket (though I’ve got no proof about which specific drivers pay for their own licence). If my suspicion is correct, I think he would join the strike despite not being a GPDA member.

    Hamilton will simply do whatever Ron tells him to do. Given that Ron is both a sworn enemy of Mosley and doesn’t like unnecessary conflict, it’s hard to read what he would decide in the situation. I doubt anyone other than Ron will be able to influence Lewis in either direction.

  16. regarding the Teams stance, expect Ferrari to be a vocal opposition to the GPDA, not because of their drivers…. simply because they oppose everything, EVER

    and didn’t Massa quit the GPDA because of the membership price?, stating that the increase in his superlisence for better safety justified him not spending more money on ANOTHER union that advocates the same safety strategy?

    the safety strategy of the GPDA and FIA being “i like your money, it is safer in our hands”

  17. Pure hearsay. With the amount of money involved in modern F1 and all the contractual obligations to sponsors etc, I can’t see drivers ever striking over a money issue. A track safety issue, perhaps, but not a money issue.

    Its a very different Formula 1 to that of 1982.

  18. ‘How can the FIA be short of money with all the McLaren money in their coffers?’
    Andrew – as reported by ITV, though I don’t know how to find the link, the ‘McLaren money’ is being used by the FIA to fund its driver development schemes, ie karting clubs and young drivers.
    The committee formed to do this consisted of M Moseley, M Schumacher, J Todt and the head of Mercedes Motorsport (whose name I can never remember).
    Therefore the money is now either in Ferrari hands or developing Schueys new Karting Team.
    It was odd how the FIA have never reported exactly where the money has gone – or if they have, apologies all round!
    The FIA is supposed to be a non-profit organisation, and the money collected from Superlicences etc is supposed to go back out to fund Safety measures and whatever else the FIA actually do.

  19. DG, are you talking about Norbert Haug?

  20. These license fees are ludicrous. Take Lewis Hamilton as an example. Last season his salary was very small in F1 terms but he would have been one of the biggest license fee payers. The fact that in the meantime his salary has risen exponentially is irrelevant.

    When Max introduced the higher fees the reason he gave was that it was to stop spurious applications. I don’t know how many spurious applications the FIA receive but it can’t be many and frankly if I was considering applying for a superlices the fact that Hamilton, Raikkonen and Alonso are paying vast amounts of money is hardly going to figure in my decision making process.

    The strike won’t happen because there isn’t a Lauda on the current grid. No-one has that kind of authority.

  21. Sush, I might be, I can never remember his name!

  22. …or a Senna, for that matter, Steven Roy. But if there’s one thing people would do anything for, it’s money.

  23. You think Sutil is earning a million dollars? How much did Hamilton earn last year compared to his fees for this year. If he had not got a raise, he would be in real financial crises having to pay about 230,000 euros.

    I also don’t think the teams pay for the super licences at least not after the first year. And the FIA could have been more prudent in its use of funds. Like staging a stupid sit in vote session when votes could have been mailed.

    I don’t care if drivers go on strike. I love the spot, but if the administrators can’t behave responsibly why should the drivers.

  24. Robert McKay
    19th June 2008, 21:22

    I think all the drivers should be paying the same fee anyway. The danger of the sport is not based on your salary.

  25. michael counsell
    20th June 2008, 3:40

    No F1 drivers will strike, its illogical. Striking would do damage to the teams and sponsors who know full well that they pay enough and probably pay points bonuses. It would do damage to their public reputation as it would create a perception of greed. Not only that but it would give the non GPDA drivers an advantage as they would have no kind of protection from striking as they are no union members.

  26. There is absolutely no way they will stage a strike. You cannot compare the drivers of today with those of the 70’s and 80’s. The latter behaved like adults. They would speak their minds and act accordingly. The ones of nowadays…well..Lewis and Massa bring daddy to their every race. None of the drivers gives an interview without a PR assistant at hand. The likes of Raikonen and Kubica are not able to put three words together in a comprehensible sentence anyway…And to complete the picture, the GPDA is led by Coultard – it is just hopeless, there is no chance they can pull it off.

  27. Antifia, the GPDA is led by Alonso.

    up till 4 weeks ago, it was led by Webber.

    Before that it was some guy who “makes shoes”, if you didn’t hear me then I’ll grab a “MIKE”.

  28. Sush… I belive that currently there are three directors of the GPDA. Webber, Alonso and de la Rosa. De la Rosa is the current Chairman.

  29. As if we needed this, on the eve of the Silverstone event? The last thing this race needs is a drivers strike, they might as well shut the doors if that happened.
    I look back to Indianapolis 2005 and the debate on the tyres following Ralf Schumacher’s turn thirteen shunt.
    When it became clear that the Michelin runners were ‘not’ going to participate, I was in a state of shock.
    I had always felt that a solution would be reached, that the show would go on. In typical Formula One fashion we, ‘the fans’, will probably be left guessing
    until the end of the parade lap.
    And what of the drivers? Talk about cutting off ones nose to spite your face. How can you complain when you are getting paid around $20 million a year, or in Raikkonen’s case, upwards of $45 million?
    The bottom line is simple, and is not supernatural. Bums on seats means revenue, those fans watching at the track and on t.v means sponsorship money. Without them, these drivers would be in the you know what!!!
    Life is not fair in the real world, maybe that is the real problem. Certain F1 drivers are about as removed from the real world as a human being can get.

  30. Those were the times!

Comments are closed.