Q & A with Fernando Alonso

With drivers clearly frustrated about the situation, and the matter almost certainly top of the agenda at Friday evening's Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) meeting, autosport.com heard what Fernando Alonso had to say about the matter when he met the press on Thursday.

Q. What is the situation with the drivers' strike at Silverstone?

Fernando Alonso: I just heard it now, about 20 seconds ago. I had no news from any other drivers about this. But I agree if we do it. It is a very serious matter, and we were talking about (the) superlicence price in the last couple of GPDA meetings.

It has to be agreed between us, and we all agree that it is not fair that from one year to the next it (the cost) increases 500-600 percent. It is something we need to look at, and I don't know what will be the solution and what will be our effort, but if there is a strike in Silverstone then maybe it is one possibility. Why not?

Q. What form would the strike take?

FA: I have no idea. In fact, I was not hearing anything (about this) from any of us (drivers). I have just answered two questions about this now, but it seems you know more than me. Probably tomorrow in the meeting with all of us, we will have some clearer things.

Q. Have you spoken to the FIA about it?

FA: Yes, we approached the FIA two or three times, always by letter. And with not a positive answer, so we didn't agree on anything. We will see.

Q. Can you give an idea of how much a super licence is?

FA: I don't know, more than 200,000 Euros for everyone. It depends on how many points you score in the championship, so next year for me will be cheaper! Anyway, I prefer not to pay too much. It is a problem we all face, sooner or later. I think it is a ridiculous price.

Q. What sort of protest do you think would be appropriate at Silverstone? Not going on the drivers' parade? Not taking part in a session? Not racing?

FA: I don't know. I think it is difficult because all of us, we have some commitments and some contracts with our teams. So we have to do our job. It is not easy to decide what we can do and cannot do. As I said, tomorrow we have to look at more detail about what we will do.

Q. Is part of the anger that this is something that has been done without consultation with the drivers?

FA: Yeah, probably because of that and also because we asked also where the money was going. The increase they have for this year is massive - so all this extra money, we asked where it was going. We have had no answer. If that extra money was going for safety or to improve the circuits and things like that, then we are still happy to pay because it will make it safe. But we have had no answer on that.

Q. People might say it is a lot of money, but for what drivers earn - ten to 15 million pounds - it isn't much really?

FA: No, it depends on which drivers. If I had to pay this amount of money three or four years ago, when my salary was not too big, it would have been a big percentage of my salary. Now I am lucky to improve in the last two or three years, but I am sure there are drivers scoring many points for whom it is not easy.

Q. Do you know what the feelings are of the drivers who are not members of the GPDA?

FA: I think they feel the same. They are not in our meetings, but I believe Pedro de la Rosa approached them asking about this matter. We all agree - the increase of the superlicence cost is the same for every driver and we all agree that it was a little bit too much.

Q. Is it important to get unanimous support for this among drivers?

FA: For sure. If we don't agree and we are not a group, then we don't have too much impact.

Q. Is this part of a bigger problem of the FIA not listening to what the drivers' want? It seems your concerns are not being taken seriously.

FA: Yes, a little bit. I think the FIA anyway take us seriously when we are talking about safety and things like that. It is true we suggest some things about new rules and things like that, which as drivers we think are necessary. (There are) some rules that are not completely fair, and for sure they (the FIA) don't listen to us too much. Because also coming from the teams, all the meetings, the technical meetings that they have with the FIA, they agree things that the drivers think are crazy. After, it is difficult to make a solution or come back from that decision.

Q. What do you expect from the French Grand Prix?

FA: We will see. The car did improve in the last couple of races - although Monaco was difficult to see because it is a special race. But Turkey was better and in Canada we were fighting with the front runners, so hopefully here we can repeat this kind of performance.

And if we can be fourth of fifth in qualifying that will be fantastic because from that position you can fight even for the podium if you are lucky. It is something that we are hoping for. We are racing at home and we would like to have a good result for the people in the grandstand.