Drivers campaign to expand GPDA role

As the debate over Schumacher's actions in stopping his car on the track in Monte Carlo qualifying continued in Friday's meeting of the GPDA in Montreal, moves are now being made to define whether the drivers' organisation should expand its mandate.

Williams third driver Alexander Wurz is leading the push to strengthen the GPDA's resolve and, after bringing up the matter yesterday, the Austrian has successfully got support for the body to begin talks over the next few races to define what the GPDA's exact role is.

"I am pushing for the GPDA to become a real drivers' organisation," Wurz told autosport.com. "Of course, the main core idea behind the GPDA is safety, but where do you draw the line?

"I think the GPDA has to be an organisation for the interests of the drivers. Certainly we don't want to get politically involved, but there are interests outside the line of pure safety.

"And I have pushed for this because my aim is, and it sounds a bit cheesy, but that the GPDA goes on after the time when the bigger names leave now. And I really hope that the young people and people who are not in the meetings understand that you need a driver organisation.

"There will be the point where the drivers need to be together, and they will not be together unless there is a formal organisation like the GPDA."

Schumacher's incident at Monaco has acted as the catalyst for the latest discussions, having left a number of drivers questioning exactly what the role of the GPDA is.

Although Wurz is pushing hardest for the changes, it is understood that several drivers have indicated their support for his campaign since Friday's meeting.

The current limitations of the GPDA were further highlighted on Friday when words were exchanged in the FIA drivers' briefing after world champion Fernando Alonso was given a wrap over the knuckles by FIA safety delegate Charlie Whiting for 'brake-testing' Kimi Raikkonen at the safety car restart at Silverstone.

There were differences of opinion between the drivers about the incident, but the fact that the FIA took no official action and showed no interest in introducing a specific regulation left some senior figures upset.

"We spent 15 minutes talking about it and nothing came out of it," said one source. "It was a waste of time, and maybe it would have been better for something like that to have been discussed by the GPDA alone."

Wurz said he was optimistic that the debate over the GPDA's role would ultimately help make the body stronger in the future.

"Yesterday was the first step to going in this direction," he added. "Every two or three years, we move two or three steps forward and then it fades away again.

"The GPDA does not have to do anything great every year but, with constant little steps, being there is enough. Then every five to six years together we will be strong to fight for our rights and ideas."

Wurz believes his campaign to strengthen the GPDA will be boosted if Jacques Villeneuve and Pedro de la Rosa return to the GPDA. The Austrian has spoken to both drivers this weekend to ask them to throw their weight behind the body again.

"Speaking to Jacques was good," explained Wurz. "He left, the reasons for that were pretty obvious, and the reason why he left, to change this, he needs to stay. I think he agrees with this point and I think we will speak in the next few weeks about this."

When asked whether he thought there was a chance Villeneuve would return to the GPDA, Wurz said: "I hope so, because we need every voice. He has a strong voice, he has good ideas, clear ideas, and that is good.

"If they are always good or bad, like mine, does not matter. At least he was one of the three or four guys of us who thinks about things, and that is important. To lose a member like this is not good."

De la Rosa, who has threatened to quit the body because no action was taken over Schumacher about Monaco, was still unsure about what he would do.

"I have lost the faith in the GPDA, and at the moment I am not clear about what I want," he told autosport.com.

"Alex is doing a good job and at the end of the day we need to be more independent. I have just lost a lot of faith and it is very sad. I am not sure what I will do."