Top F1 staff to have licenses

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The FIA World Motor Sport Council has proposed that staff who are involved in FIA-sanctioned events be licensed by the sport’s governing body.

In a statement released today the WMSC said:

The World Motor Sport Council will submit a proposal to the General Assembly that a specific licence is created for a restricted list of members of staff of the competitors entered in the FIA World Championships.

The aim is to introduce a system that ensures they are subject to the criteria set out in a new FIA Code of Good Standing. This would apply to a minimum of six people per competitor, including the Team Principal, Sporting Director, Team Manager, Technical Director and two race engineers (or equivalent).

A new mechanism will be introduced to control access to areas under the jurisdiction of the FIA and no pass of any kind will be issued to any person or body who is not in good standing for the purposes of the FIA International Sporting Code.

Entrants will also become responsible for their staff, meaning any person connected directly or indirectly with the entrant in connection with their participation in an event.

The move is a response to the FIA’s difficulty in restricting Flavio Briatore and Pat Symond’s involvement in Formula 1 following their involvement in the Singapore 2008 affair.

Read more: Briatore and Symonds accept three-year F1 ban in Singapore crash settlement

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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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9 comments on “Top F1 staff to have licenses”

  1. A good move with good intentions. But will we get the desired result ? Only time will tell I suppose…

    1. Just look at Bernie actually inviting Flav to Monaco (and Todt had lunch and a meeting with him as well), nobody will denie Bernie access from the GP meeting as he is the FOM head!

  2. I like. I wonder why it never occured to them sooner.

  3. Probably means we’ve seen the last of Flav thank goodness, FIA is hardly going to give him a licence.

    1. I think BasCB has a good point in saying that no one will deny guests of Bernie access, on the risk of seeing their finances hassled …

      I also wonder if it will mainly mean that paddock passes become harder to get, and (thus?) more expensive.

      It is a good initiative, but whether it works or not depends on how well it will be enforced.

    2. I dont think they can reject him, for the same reason they couldnt ban him earlier, they can only ban people who comit a crime under the licencing system.

  4. I hope this works out. The reasoning is good.

  5. This is about closing the stable door isn’t it? And who is going to define ‘good standing’? After the outcome of the WSMC meeting, I don’t see how they could refuse a pass to anybody…….

  6. A good defence against Flavio, I just hope it isn’t ever used due to politics rather than morals.

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