George Russell reveals three key factors dominating latest F1 driver meetings
George Russell has revealed the three factors that the Formula 1 drivers most discuss during their GPDA meetings.
In his role as one of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) directors, Russell is the voice of the Formula 1 drivers when it comes to discussing problems with the sport and has revealed what has been top of the agenda lately.
Russell identified “three factors” that he says the drivers have been discussing during their meetings with fellow GPDA director Anastasia Fowle and GPDA chairman Alex Wurz.
Safety and competitiveness amongst George Russell’s chief concerns
Ever since it was founded in 1961 and then reformed in 1994, the GPDA has been a place for F1 drivers to discuss anything and everything to do with the sport.
After being disbanded in 1982, the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix in which both Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died prompted a group led by Michael Schumacher to re-establish the trade union. 29 years on and one the key topics of discussion is the same today as it was back then.
“There’s three factors,” Russell told select media including PlanetF1.com. “One, you’ve got safety which is obviously, to a degree, quite self explanatory, you want the circuits to be as safe as possible and not have unnecessary risks.
“There’s always going to be an element of danger and you want the cars to be as safe as possible naturally but you’re never going to be able to eliminate all of the risk.”
Another concern that this crop of drivers share with their predecessors is the competitiveness of the sport. While it was Schumacher in the 2000s and then Lewis Hamilton in the late 2010s, now it is Max Verstappen and Russell said on-track entertainment is a priority.
“You’ve then got the on-track entertainment side of things and how exciting the races are,” Russell continued. “Tyres are a factor with the degradation, the format, DRS positioning, etc, etc.”
Russell’s final point was one that only the drivers will have an opinion on and that is how it feels to drive the car.
“Then you’ve got the third one, which is probably the least important [to everyone else] but to the drivers, it’s important.
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“It’s about how it feels to drive the cars. We want the fastest cars, the best cars, the latest cars, the most amount of power and we think that would add to the spectacle.
“But you can’t often achieve all of these topics.
“I think generally speaking, Formula 1 is in a good place. If it wasn’t for the Red Bull’s dominance for the last 12 months, there has been quite a lot of exciting racing, close racing in good battles. That’s where it is at the moment for this fight for second, it is in a good place.
“Maybe the tyres have been a little bit too hard recently and it’s too many one-stops and not enough degradation to add a bit of spice in there but equally when the tyres are rubbish, we also complain. It’s trying to find that right balance and it’s never quite clear cut.”
Read more:George Russell provides a timeline on Sebastian Vettel’s GPDA future
