GPDA Gain All F1 Drivers – Apart From Kimi

From Autosport.com
 
The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) has succeeded in boosting
its membership numbers by convincing previous high-profile sceptics,
including Felipe Massa and Adrian Sutil, to join the organisation,
AUTOSPORT can reveal.

With the GPDA having endured a difficult 2008, with world
championship frontrunners Lewis Hamilton, Massa and Kimi Raikkonen not
members, its chairman Pedro de la Rosa together with directors Fernando
Alonso and Mark Webber worked hard throughout last winter to get the
doubters back on board.

With big progress being made on the eve of the season as Hamilton
signed up to the GPDA for the first time since he entered F1 in 2007,
AUTOSPORT has learned that Massa and Sutil also agreed to become
members at the same time.

With a host of reserve drivers and F1 rookie Sebastien Buemi also
joining up, it means that Kimi Raikkonen is now the only regular driver
who has not yet agreed to become a member.

De la Rosa said he was delighted that the likes of Hamilton and
Massa were now on board – which comes after a winter when the GPDA
helped agree with the FIA a reduction in super licence fees for all
drivers.

"It is important we are all there," de la Rosa told AUTOSPORT. "It
is great news that Lewis, Felipe and Adrian have come on board, but
also that test drivers like Christian Klien are there too, and new
drivers like Buemi. It’s quite reassuring.

"I admit we were weak last year, especially when Felipe left. But he
has come back, and I’m glad he has. I’m really delighted about Lewis
being there too."

De la Rosa said he hoped Raikkonen, who is still considering
becoming a member, would also sign up to ensure that every driver on
the grid is in the GPDA.

"We wish Kimi was there, as he is one of the top guys, so hopefully he will agree soon too," said the Spaniard.

"The GPDA is an important organisation. Although the drivers fight
each other on the track, we must be able to work together off it to
solve problems. I believe the GPDA today is stronger than ever."

I had fun making that wanted poster of Kimi. Now that he is the sole non-GPDA F1 driver, the whole gang will be on his back trying to get him to join. But Kimi being Kimi, he’ll only join the GPDA if he felt he should or believed in the reasons for joining. He wouldn’t just jump on the bandwagon. He will probably be asked about this later this week when the F1 circus heads to China for the third Grand Prix of the season.

Also, Ferrari announced today that there has been restructuring of their trackside operations, with Luca Baldisserri being moved to a factory-based role. The good news for us Kimi fans is that Chris Dyer, Kimi’s ex-race engineer from 2007 and 2008, will be replacing Baldisserri on the pit wall:

Following crisis talks at Maranello last week to discuss why the
outfit has failed to score a point in the first two races of the year,
its worst start to a campaign since 1992, the team has ramped up
efforts to ensure it changes the situation as soon as possible.

As part of that bid to help improve the performance, the team has
decided to set up a new Working Party to fast-track car improvements
that are essential if Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are to start
delivering the results needed to keep them in the title hunt.

This department will be headed by technical director Aldo Costa,
with Baldisserri now handed responsibility for coordinating the factory
efforts with trackside operations. Work will focus on all areas of car
performance, including a double-decker diffuser if the concept is given
the green light by the FIA International Court of Appeal this week.

The staff changes mean that Baldisserri will no longer attend races,
with his role at the races now being taken by chief track engineer
Chris Dyer.

The decision to move Baldisserri away from his trackside role comes
after team principal Stefano Domenicali labelled the team’s performance
in Malaysia, where errors in qualifying and the race cost it dearly, as
‘unacceptable’.

"Well, of course it is not a positive weekend," Domenicali told
reporters after seeing Massa knocked out early in qualifying and
Raikkonen’s race wrecked by a wrong switch to wet tyres on a dry track.
"It is the second one in a row and it is not good, for sure. Anyway,
what we have to do is react immediately.

"The people have to take their own responsibility for things, and
this is important in the moment where either from the performance point
of view, and the management point of view, things are not going well.
This is for sure not acceptable, and I am not accepting that."

As well as the team restructure, Ferrari will bring a host of new
parts to this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix – including a revised front
wing – which were evaluated by Marc Gene in straight-line testing last
week.

Ferrari has also confirmed that design consultant Rory Byrne and
chief designer Nikolas Tombazis will represent the team at the FIA
International Court of Appeal hearing into the diffusers, which takes
place tomorrow.