05/07/2005
NEWS STORY
FIA president, Max Mosley, has cancelled a proposed meeting with the Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA) scheduled to take place at Silverstone on Friday.
In a letter Mosley has written to David Coulthard, a leading light within the GPDA, which Pitpass has seen, the FIA president expresses his concern at comments made by the Scot to the British media, accusing the Red Bull driver of making political mileage out of the current situation.
"Your press comments have distorted the purpose of the Silverstone meeting and made a calm discussion of a major safety issue impossible," writes Mosley.
At the weekend, sections of the media reported that Coulthard had received a "threatening" call from Mosley, though none of these sources carried direct quotes, either from the Scot or the FIA president.
Subsequently, a meeting was planned for this Friday, at which time Mosley would meet with the GPDA at Silverstone.
However, in an unprecedented move, on Monday, Coulthard gave a press conference in which he not only referred to the recent Indianapolis debacle, but also criticized the FIA for some of the regulations introduced in recent years.
In response to this Mosley adds: "Single-lap qualifying was agreed by all the teams in 2002, as was the
ten-grid position penalty for engine changes. The single-tyre rule was supported unanimously by the teams in the Technical Working Group on 6 September 2004. Any driver who dislikes the 2005 rules should perhaps ask
his team, rather than the FIA, why he was not consulted."
In light of Red Bull's decision to retain the Scot for 2006, and the fact that he will be using Ferrari a powerplant, we wonder how much longer this new-found frankness will last.