Grosjean names non-GPDA drivers who ‘aren’t with us’

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: New Grand Prix Drivers’ Association president Romain Grosjean reveals the drivers who aren’t members of the group including seven active racers.

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Many of you appreciated the larger numbers brought in at the last race but several felt Force India’s (suspended) fine was a bit off:

Its a great rule change and it needs to be enforced but I fail to see the meaning of fining a team for it the very first race without even a warning. It’s just stupidity at work.
Gabriel (@Rethla)

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On this day in F1

  • Today in 1997 the FIA announced a change of venue for the final race of the season. “Because of uncertainties as to the status of the work required at the Estoril circuit, the Grand Prix to be held on 26 October will take place at Jerez and will be known as the European Grand Prix,” they said in a statement.

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Keith Collantine
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72 comments on “Grosjean names non-GPDA drivers who ‘aren’t with us’”

  1. That’s a dumb COTD because it’s not even correct. They received a suspended fine, they will rectify the issue next race and they wont have to pay anything.

    1. @macca

      That’s a dumb COTD because it’s not even correct.

      My thoughts exactly.

      1. That’s what it says

    2. Technically they were fined without warning. The FIA simply chose to suspend it due to making a total mess of its implementation, implying that had the Thursday scrutineering noticed, a fine would have been charged at that moment.

  2. Romoan grosjean…

    1. You might not like him, but he has a good point in trying to unify all the drivers for a common goal.

      1. That’s not how you unite people. That’s how you antagonize them.

        1. Yes, but they will all be confronted at some stage by the media about a topic that otherwise would not have been raised.

          Although not in an absolute form, this will bring some degree of progress.

          1. “We all want more from Liberty and we can do that better if we speak with one voice”.

            The problem is that different drivers want different things. Speaking with one voice is only possible if there are no internal conflicts of opinions. Drivers not united in GPDA often supported the actions of Drivers’ Association from the outside. And that’s fine. They can back an action if they agree and oppose it if they disagree. Grosjean wants the authority of these drivers to stand behind GPDA even if they do not agree with a particular GPDA activity.

        2. exactly, @maroonjack.
          It’s 8 current drivers (40%) who haven’t joined yet.
          Grosjean/Wurz should first try to convince them in person with arguments.
          And if they have already done that and still 40% are not happy to join than there is a bigger problem, that certainly will not be solved by naming them (it’s certainly not shaming them) in the press.

        3. How do you get Raikkonen to join in, vodka and ice cream?

          1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
            15th May 2017, 18:36

            A little kid who is devastated he won’t join

          2. 11 years in, and nobody has ever convined Kimi that the GPDA is a good idea. I think he may be the only driver on the current grid who’s done more than 3 seasons and has never been a member. (I think Hamilton was briefly one in the middle of 2008, funnily enough following a similar row, but as Ron Dennis is not a current team boss I don’t think the same tactic will work twice to persuade anyone on board).

    2. Hamilton doesn’t need the GPDA he’s #blessed

      1. Hamilton and Massa used to be GPDA members, they probably had their reasons to leave.

        1. Maybe it (or 20 minutes of his time) was too expensive :p

          The association’s members pay a £2,000 joining fee and attend one 20-minute meeting at the start of each Grand Prix weekend.

          1. @f1-liners, in the case of Raikkonen, he has never been a member of the GPDA; similarly, Bottas has never joined up to the GPDA in the first place either, though in their cases it may be because they aren’t interested in getting involved in the politics of the sport. As for Verstappen, he certainly has been very hostile to the GPDA in the past – in part because he seems to have had a bit of a behind the scenes spat with some members.

            However, as @maroonjack notes, several of the drivers in that list are known to have been members of the GPDA in the past. Massa and Hamilton have both been somewhat reluctant members of the GPDA, but they had been members for a number of years in the past; I think that Wehrlein might possibly have been a member of the GPDA in 2016 too (though it is not entirely clear).

            More notably, Hulkenberg also used to be part of the GPDA – in fact, if he is no longer a member of the GPDA, I find that perhaps more telling of the internal state of affairs within the GPDA.

            Until fairly recently, Hulkenberg was one of the more prominent and active members of the GPDA. Back in 2014, he suggested that, if he had been asked to replace de la Rosa (who retired from his role as the head of the GPDA that year), he would have actively considered it: that was a pretty strong statement of his enthusiasm for the GPDA at the time.

            In his case, the fact that he has, in the matter of a few years, gone from being prepared to run the GPDA to walking out of the GPDA, along with several other drivers following suit, does support @maroonjack‘s point that, instead of winning over the other drivers in the paddock, the senior members of the GPDA seem to have antagonised and driven away a number of drivers, hinting at poor management.

  3. Well I haven’t seen the race (paywall) but the headlines make me wish I could have, long duel, close battle, etc. So my question is ; did the harder tyres ruin the racing and would the race have been better on ultra and super softs ?

    1. @hohum Tyres were about perfect I felt, Not much deg & allowed drivers to push hard to the point where some were noticeably physically drained after the race. heard several radio messages during where lewis was noticeably been pushed hard, sounding really out of breath & obviously getting a good work out whihc is something we have not seen in f1 for a while.

      Just a shame that DRS kinda ruined the lead fight by ending it sooner & allowing the pass to be your typical DRS drive-by.

      1. The DRS worked rather effectively this time, I have to say. Several are wont to diminish the lap 44 Vettel pass by Hamilton due to it being DRS-assisted; hopefully they won’t find it inconvenient to learn that the even more stunning double-dummy overtake Vettel executed on Bottas was equally DRS-assisted. Vettel himself admitted as much post-race.

        Its efficacy mostly depends on how it’s applied, but so far in 2017? DRS works, people

    2. @hohum It was a 2 stop race with drivers (particularly the front two) pushing aggressively throughout. You could both see and hear the physical exertion of the drivers, with the race director broadcasting many of Hamilton’s radio messages where he was having to take breaths between words.

      The tyres worked really well during the race. The soft had plenty of pace but only for about 20 laps at the beginning of the race with the medium proving durable but slower. With the front two opting for differing strategies (Ham: S-M-S, Vet S-S-M) it provided opportunities for actual racing that otherwise wouldn’t have arisen.

  4. I have to say the story with little Thomas was absolutely fantastic. The highs and lows he went through all on display, and then to be able to meet his hero. When the feed went back to the replay of the first lap incident around like lap 50 or something, I was like what the heck is going on, why are they showing this again. They went though all of it, Kimi getting knocked out and again showing how upset Thomas was. Then it changed scenes, and to see him sitting next to Kimi really choked me up, what a great moment for that little guy.

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      15th May 2017, 2:35

      It was really great, I love seeing things like that, and I wish it happened more (not the crying, but the good feels story, lol).

      I can’t help but feel that if we were still under the draconian rule Mr. E, that would have never happened.

      1. A fan of F1 for 50 years and I really thought this story was touching. The young lad was definitely heartbroken when Kimi was crashed out and then elated to meet him later. Very touching. Hats off to whomever had the smarts and compassion to make this happen. This is great for F1 and I believe they now have a new fan for life.

        1. Me2!

      2. Great bit of broadcast direction. Still, it is only one race since the continuation of the annual cut away from track action to watch the Vlad & Bernie Show. Hope it is this weekend’s story that sets the tone for where Liberty take the sport.

      3. Of course this would not have happened under Bernie. The kid wasn’t wearing a Rolex so B.E. would have written him off as a peasant and told him to cry quietly so as not to disturb.
        I really thought that was a great move, not just from a PR perspective, but a really cool thing to do for a true fan and his family. Kudos to Liberty Media and Ferrari!

        1. “I really thought that was a great move, not just from a PR perspective, but a really cool thing to do for a true fan and his family”

          Exactly, not just PR, but an unexpected, unplanned moment where some F1 people did a caring thing that became something touching and fun for all of us.

    2. That was F1 passion in the purest of forms. One day if I become a father, and my kid has that sort of reaction, I know I have succeed.

      A F1 Fanatic in the making

    3. An what an absolutely brilliant piece of PR for Ferrari and Santander! Whoever initiated the idea of bringing Thomas and family down to the team deserves a serious pay rise.

    4. Now imagine Bottas and Verstappen joining Kimi with the little kid as well :)

  5. Well done to Ferrari and F1 for actually reacting to young Tomas’ emotions. It made for a really feel good moment on already brilliant weekend. If this is the direction F1 is heading, I’m more than Ok with it.

    I’m enjoying the new formula. The effect of DRS has been largely nullified. But I still think that when the next set of regs are commissioned, cars should rely more on the underfloor for down force rather than wings.

    1. Exactly the kind of thing F1 needs – be more empatical towards fans @jaymenon10. They saw a great opportunity to turn a sad fan into a big winning moment for all fans.

      The idea of bringing out the top qualifiers and highlight Alonso for a talk in front of the grandstands before adding some merchandise thrown in for the fans also shows that F1 is starting to go in the right direction with doing things that cost them hardly anything but give a great deal more back to all the fans.

    2. agree @jaymenon1.
      There is a lot of positive changes this year, also around the events and social media.

      PS – Maybe Keith should have a reward as well for the fans on this site whose hero did not perform well.
      Reading some of their comments, they seem to be bitter and close to crying when sharing their race review comments ;)

  6. Have to say that the new number thing force india got fined for is a pretty silly rule & all a bit pointless.

    I was at the track on Friday & Saturday & the cars go by so quickly that you don’t get time to see or read the numbers or names anyway regardless of how big they are or where there placed. can’t say i have ever looked at the numbers at any of the race series that i have followed on tv or at the track, can’t even tell you what numbers most of the drivers in the various series i watch run with.

    I actually looked out for some of them on Friday out of interest & even some of the more prevalent one’s were tricky to see as the cars whizzed past at speed.

    If your looking out for a number, name or whatever every time a car goes by then your not really watching the car so all it does it take your focus away…… just another silly rule thats end of the day completely pointless imo.

    1. Sundar Srinivas Harish
      15th May 2017, 6:57

      A rule is a rule, and it is just a warning shot TBH. They’ll only have to cough up if they do not rectify the issue.

    2. Michael Brown (@)
      15th May 2017, 23:05

      O think it’s meant for tv viewers, but it could OD still be better. Numbers need to be in standardized locations like WEC and NASCAR

  7. Mentioned in a comment above bit It was kind of nice to see the drivers actually been really pushed physically again. The past few years they have been driving so relatively slowly managing the tyres, fuel & stuff that they haven’t really been pushed all that much & it’s given the impression that driving these cars for 90+ minutes in a race was easier than it was.

    Hearing Lewis sounding like he was getting a real work out during the race, Seeing him look drained at the end of it makes it clear that he’s been pushed hard, that he’s had to really work for it throughout the race & re-iterates that not anyone can jump into these cars & drive them hard throughout a GP. I also saw on one of the OnBoard feeds that Pascal Wehrlein also looked pretty drained afterwards, Got out pretty slowly & just kind of sat there for a while catching his breath.

    I can see races like Singapore & Malaysia been a real challenge for them again this year as they were in the past where it wasn’t uncommon to see drivers totally knackered at the end.

  8. RP (@slotopen)
    15th May 2017, 1:46

    RE: Kimi exiting the truck
    “Oh, somebody dropped an ice cream cone and it hasn’t melted yet!”

    1. ……crickets chirping…….

  9. I feel just a little bit sorry for all the six-year-olds who *didn’t* cry photogenically on global television.

    1. Come on man! The camera caught him because he was crying and not the other way round. Let’s learn to appreciate a little goodness in the world. Not his fault he made the world sympathize with him.

      Great gesture from Ferrari and Kimi. I am hoping he doesn’t have too many of these evenings. Could have used him yesterday.

      1. The reason the camera caught him crying is because they actually showed him waving a Ferrari flag and laughing just moments before the start. So the dramatic change of emotion makes for a great visual storytelling.

        It’s just the best possible television –

        1. We see a kid laughing and waving the flag.
        2. Kimi crashes.
        3. Kid is crying and is obviously heartbroken.
        4. Kid is taken to meet Kimi and is happy and laughing again.

        Simply a brilliant side-story that is actually related to the action on track – tons better than seing someone’s girlfriend for the milionth time.

        1. Agreed. Salesman talk sorry, but people won’t always remember what you did for them, or how you did it, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

          Awesome bit of PR, its everywhere. Especially for a sport that in the past has had the perception issue is disappearing up its own jacksy.

        2. Certainly better than cutting to Vladimir Putin midden in the race @zimkazimka

    2. @flatdarkmars What a bitter and useless comment. My advise is to read the whole story and educate yourself before commenting. Also, what should have they done? Let all the children on track into the paddock without exception?!

    3. @flatdarkmars Some issues there brother…

    4. +1

      I don’t watch F1 to see this kind of ferry tail stories. One time is nice and fun but now they (Liberty Media) have seen that people like this, I’m afraid that every race has to have its “personal story”. So camera men will even film more people in the grand stands and that is exactly what I hate. I want to see the racing and a tv director that knows where the action is and brings that to the audience.

      But I’m afraid that when even on this site people are so touched by such an PR-side story we will see lots of this in the future …..

  10. Di Resta is an active F1 driver?

    1. And Celis is a future champion

    2. @pawelf1, as he is the official reserve driver for Williams, di Resta is still technically active as an F1 driver this year.

    3. I think Romain was listing everyone eligible to be in GPDA who wasn’t in it.

  11. Oh how I wish for Bernie cam. Would have loved to see his face as the Little Kimi Man was taken into the paddock.

    This one moment erases all doubt about whether Liberty Media should have ditched Bernie and his methods.

    1. I get the feeling Liberty may have taken Bernie aside and told him to pull his head in. His comments in Spain seemed a lot more constructive and jovial compared to the “I’ve overcharged these venues” comments in Malaysia.

      Good ultimatum – sing from a same hymn sheet as everyone else, or become irrelevant.

      1. He’s buying Force India. Bernie is bringing back Brabham and he wants Brundle to drive. Team Ancient will show F1’s youngins’ what old goats with money and treachery can do on track. ;-)

        1. He’s buying Force India.

          @jimmi-cynic.. Are u sure? Source?

  12. Neil (@neilosjames)
    15th May 2017, 8:13

    So, eight of 20 race drivers aren’t GPDA members… in 2013, it was only three out of 22. And of those eight, there are plenty of big names, from a variety of teams and engine suppliers.

    With membership being neither prohibitively expensive nor especially time-consuming, one has to wonder exactly why so many of them choose to remain outside it. Could be that the problem lies within the GPDA, not with the individual drivers…

  13. Grosjean’s tactic of calling out the traitors is hardly going to endear him to them. It’s like he’s been actively watching Brexit/Trump and thought ‘yeah, that’s a great way to deal with the other side’.

    1. You’re the first to call them traitors mate…..very Trump-esque. What do they say about judging someones backyard?

      I think you’ve taken this completely out of context. Not being in the GPDA and being against the GPDA are two completely different things!

      1. Yeah, I’ve seen enough political rhetoric to know what ‘who aren’t with us’ means. It’s really not that thinly veiled.

        1. Absolute hogwash. The basis of your argument is an assumption.

      2. What is “Trump-esque”?
        It seems your basis of argument is some sort of Trump assumption.

        1. Keep reading mate…..

          “Not being in the GPDA and being against the GPDA are two completely different things!”

          Thats the basis. Anything else?

          1. Go Trump!!!

  14. Absolute hogwash. The basis of your argument is an assumption.

  15. Fukobayashi (@)
    15th May 2017, 12:03

    Who would have ever thought the young ‘first lap nutcase’ would some day be on a safety-led powertrip! He needs to wind his neck in.

    1. GPDA leaders aren’t based on talent, although Romain is a very good driver. He is just a very good leader.

  16. Romain may have been more politically astute and named the members.

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