FIA to cut licence fees – but by how much?

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The F1 drivers’ superlicence fee row appeared to end in defeat for the drivers as they agreed to pay the FIA’s higher fee structure – which increased revenue to the FIA five-fold.

However the sports governing body has now indicated it will cut the fees in 2010, but not said how much they will come down by. A statement read:

A proposal will be made to the World Motor Sport Council to revise super licence fees for drivers in the 2010 championship.

A reduced fee would reflect the major cost reductions that will be brought into the sport for next season.

Inevitably when the FIA announces something like this you have to suspect a political motive at work. Is it connected to the highly controversial budget cap proposed by 2010? Or is Max Mosley still looking for a way to get details of the drivers’ salaries in order to put a cap on that as well?

Or has the FIA simply found a new way to plug its budget hole?

More on the superlicence row

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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6 comments on “FIA to cut licence fees – but by how much?”

  1. mkh1
    23rd March 2009, 21:13

    I assume the FIA has some motive for reducing the fees. I guess we’ll have to wait to see what it is.

  2. DGR-F1
    24th March 2009, 8:06

    This is one of those teasers that all politicians are good at. By the time 2010 comes around, the FIA would have forgotten it said says such things, and put the fees up anyway!

  3. Bigbadderboom
    24th March 2009, 9:20

    Max is just trying to get a positive out there for the FIA, they have come out of the closed season looking pretty bad all in all and I think they are trying to appear more sympathetic instead of just pathetic!!!1 ;)

  4. PJA
    24th March 2009, 9:36

    If it is reduced with no strings attached, then it will only be by a small amount.

  5. todd
    25th March 2009, 7:19

    major cost reductions to the sport is a general term, not relating to the super licenses, they’ll probably cut them back by 20%.

  6. Hounslow
    25th March 2009, 20:32

    The FIA income from super licences has gone up 5 fold. In 2010, they will reduce their total take by a few percent and offer to make it ‘fairer’ by basing the fees not on driver success, but on driver salaries.
    Once they have that, they will try to drive salaries down or even to cap them. If that fails, the FIA will introduce a steeply progressive charge for superlicences, rather like an income tax on the driver’s salaries.
    Heh, heh, heh.

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