Although the war of words between the teams, Michelin and the FIA appears to have been (temporarily) put on the back burner, a new force has entered the political arena of contemporary Formula One, the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA).

Last Wednesday (June 29) the GPDA entered the great (on-going) debate over the United States Grand Prix, when 19 race drivers and third drivers issued a statement regarding safety at Indianapolis and their desire to find a solution that would have allowed them to race. The statement was made available for download via the Renault team's website.

Over the course of the French GP weekend the GPDA took the spotlight. First there was clear dissent at the fact that of the current F1 drivers, four names were missing from the post-US GP statement, most notably the two Ferrari drivers.

When asked why he hadn't signed, Michael Schumacher said: "As far as I understand, it was an initiative from Renault, I don't recall they called me, first of all. I would have been surprised if they had anyway. Just to make clear, this was not a GPDA thing. I think we just have different opinions about it, which is only natural so I would not have signed it."

Asked if there were was anything in particular about the statement which he objected to, the German responded: "There were certain points that were never really part of the discussion, actually, so there was no point in signing it."

With Jordan's Tiago Monteiro claiming that he had never heard or seen the statement and then saying that nobody had contacted him for his opinion, Jarno Trulli fired back with his own thinly-veiled dig. The Italian claimed that the failure of all members of the GPDA signing the statement 'weakened' the drivers' union, furthermore he hinted that, in his opinion, someone was lying about not being consulted. "We will all get the information from the GPDA by email. So nobody can say I didn't get the message."

Subsequently, indicating the rift that is clearly threatening the GPDA, the Italian said: "You can only say I didn't agree. That is my opinion. But I think it is better to discuss it more."

A meeting took place on Friday, but nothing was resolved, and therefore the drivers chose to meet again at Silverstone.

Then, on Sunday, it emerged that several drivers were unhappy having been told that in the wake of the statement, David Coulthard had allegedly received a "threatening" phone call from FIA president, Max Mosley. Not wanting any further dirty washing done in public, it was agreed that Mosley would meet with the drivers at Silverstone, nonetheless, the story was out in the open, even though direct quotes were surprisingly scarce.

Now, the saga has taken a new twist, with Coulthard, seemingly free of the corporate shackles that bound him at McLaren, appearing to take up a role - on behalf of the drivers - similar to that of Paul Stoddart with the 'rebel' teams.

Talking to members of the British media yesterday, the Scot took the opportunity to take a further swipe at the FIA, this time slamming the new rules that have been introduced in recent years.