Alex Wurz, president of the GPDA, has pointed out that the regulations that prohibit the wearing of jewelery and metallic objects during the competition are correct, although he believes that the FIA should have acted differently.
The controversy of the jewels and Lewis Hamilton will continue to be talked about, as the British driver has stated that he will continue to carry them in the car when the two-race waiver that the FIA granted him in Miami ends.
The Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA) has spoken on the matter through its president, Alex Wurz, who has admitted that the regulations imposed by the FIA in this regard are totally logical and justified.
“For him, the most painful thing after the fire was that the rubber on his pants burned into his skin”
“It’s a rule made for the right reasons,” points out the former Austrian pilot. Although he also considers that the FIA should have been more discreet and open to dialogue in relation to this matter.
“I probably would have liked a slightly different approach to how to get the message across. I don’t want to end up in football, where there are more hands in the air and verbal abuse… we have to work together. It’s a style I would have preferred in this case,” says Wurz.
The FIA asks for exemplary
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem told the Daily Mail last week that wanted Hamilton to send the right message to young drivers as a role model. Instead, Hamilton has insisted that he does not intend to back down.
Alex Wurz admits he will never forget a talk given by Danish ex-pilot Kris Nissenwhich he attended as a young man, who had a car accident on the Japanese Fuji Circuit in 1988.
“He showed his body and said, ‘Look at this. For him, the most painful thing after the fire, and it wasn’t a long fire, was that the rubber from his regular pants burned into his skin. Said it was years of agony and pain. And that educated me,” he acknowledged.
“At this point I decided I didn’t want to suffer those consequences just for not taking my pants off and putting on some fire-retardant boxer shorts. The same with the jewels».
The accidents of Sainz and Ocon in Miami
Alex Wurz has also confirmed that the GPDA is talking to the FIA about the refusal to protect a concrete wall with a TecPro barrier in Miamiafter Carlos Sainz and Esteban Ocon suffered two serious accidents at turn 14.
“Strictly speaking, we didn’t have an injury, so maybe you can say the barrier isn’t necessary. But we want to say that if we had it, it would improve the situation. No research in the world can tell me that it would have been inconvenient to put it there.”.
The race director of that event on the Miami street circuit, Niels Wittich, rejected the drivers’ request, assuring that the speed at that point did not justify it and that the loophole was too narrow to place TecPro barriers.
Source: Reuters