George Russell insists F1 drivers “don’t want to fight against the FIA” amid a period of relative animosity between the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) and the motorsport governing body.<\/p>\n
The two entities have been at odds over several issues in recent years, with the current FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, proving to be a polarising figure.<\/p>\n
Having succeeded Jean Todt at the helm of the organisation in late 2021, the Emirati has endured a fraught relationship with F1’s drivers and the GPDA.<\/p>\n
Last year, his use of the media as a mouthpiece to advance his views and some of the policies he was advocating proved controversial.<\/p>\n
It culminated in the drivers’ union publishing an open letter calling for more transparency and to be treated as adults, as Ben Sulayem sought to advance a swearing ban. He replied by saying it was “none of their business.”<\/p>\n
The hostile atmosphere returned early this season with the introduction of the contentious stewards’ penalty guidelines, which included harsh financial and sporting punishments for offensive language and even speaking out against the FIA.<\/p>\n
Whilst that framework has been subsequently diluted, Ben Sulayem’s prior response led drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, to call for a seat at the decision-making table, something Russell would seemingly endorse.<\/p>\n
“I know different sports have different set-ups, and ultimately, at least from my personal standpoint – not one of GPDA – you just want to collectively work with those around you to get the best for everyone,” Russell told Autosport.<\/p>\n
“We don’t want to fight against the FIA. We don’t want to fight against F1; you want to work together with them, to get the most for them as a sport, the most for them as a regulatory body, and then the most for us as drivers.<\/p>\n
“You want to rise together and fall together. How do you achieve that? That’s another thing.”<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tSteps in the right direction<\/p>\n
However, Russell does believe there have been positive developments in relations between the FIA and F1’s drivers.<\/p>\n
The four-time grand prix winner cited the hiring of current race director Rui Marques and FIA sporting director Tim Malyon.<\/p>\n
“It’s been very refreshing having Rui Marques on board as race director,” the Mercedes driver explained. “I feel he and Tim Malyon have been exceptionally receptive.<\/p>\n
“They listen and they react, and I think collectively, we’re all substantially happier now with where we are.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"George Russell insists F1 drivers “don’t want to fight against the FIA” amid a period of relative animosity…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4103],"tags":[859,4199,1076,1074,1077,1075,997,707,4200,998,1073,1072,1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-338137","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-f1","8":"tag-daniel-ricciardo","9":"tag-f1","10":"tag-f1-calendar","11":"tag-f1-live","12":"tag-f1-results","13":"tag-f1-standings","14":"tag-ferrari","15":"tag-formula-1","16":"tag-formula1","17":"tag-lewis-hamilton","18":"tag-max-verstappen","19":"tag-motorsport","20":"tag-racing","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115015192640744995","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}