Hamilton shuns safety organisation

Heikki Kovalainen’s escape from serious injury during his high-speed accident in the recent Spanish Grand Prix highlighted the progress that has been made on the safety front, but the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association is nevertheless going through turmoil.

Frontrunners Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen have chosen not to become members, and Turkish GP winner Felipe Massa has resigned.

"I won't go on about whether I'm joining because you know the deal," Hamilton said. “They've not asked me if I want to support them. But in all honesty it's like asking you (the media) to pay for our driver salaries.

"I don't understand why I need to. I pay for my racing licence, which goes towards the FIA safety regulations. So I don't understand why I need to be paying more."

Hamilton’s former team-mate, Fernando Alonso, who is a GPDA member, admitted that the situation baffled him.

"The accident that Kovalainen had last week,” he said, “we will work on it with the FIA very closely, we will make some proposals and at the end we will find a solution. And these type of accidents will not be repeated. So drivers who don't want to be involved with that, it makes no sense."

Sir Jackie Stewart, who did so much via the GPDA to improve safety during his aggressive and tireless campaign in the Sixties when several drivers were killed each year, said that Hamilton’s refusal to see the big picture was a disappointment.

“I think this is one area where Lewis might be feeling he is a bit special,” the triple champion said, “and that is wrong. He should be part of the GPDA.”

GPDA director Mark Webber made it clear that he remains interested in getting Hamilton to join up.

"He will be very welcome any day to come along and just flick a couple of views around," the Australian said. "It is good to have someone at the front of the grid in the quick car, to be helping us out and taking the sport forward, because he is the future of the sport.

"Someone like Kimi, we know he is not interested and that is fine. And some guys in the past were not interested but they paid their way because they knew every single lap they did, whether testing or racing, there were GPDA people saving them."

Richard Woods, Director General of the FIA Institute, said there has always been genuine interest in working with the drivers, and that this has frequently been the case.

“There’s a constant dialogue between the drivers and the FIA and they are welcome to attend the key safety research meetings where all the detailed work is done. The GPDA has regularly sent speakers and delegates to FIA Institute events such as this season’s medical summit in Bahrain and Sid (Watkins) and Gerard Saillant (FIA Institute President and Deputy President) value these contributions greatly.”

Safety issues were raised again in Turkey in Sunday morning’s GP2 race, when Bruno Senna, nephew of the late Ayrton Senna, struck one of two strays dogs that wandered on to the track. Aspects of the incident were worryingly reminiscent of the accident that claimed the elder Senna’s life at Imola in 1994. His sister watched aghast as her son’s car had a front wheel torn off and thrown back towards the cockpit.

A formal report will be submitted to the FIA. Two years ago the Turkish authorities were fined $5m when the president of the illegal state of northern Cyprus presented a trophy on the podium, unbeknown to the racing body, thus creating diplomatic embarrassment.

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