The Super Licence
Yesterday I did a post where I mentioned all Formula One drivers have to have one of these now. This is issued by the FIA and the reason why there are so few drivers who can replace the current drivers. If someone gets injured teams have a test driver as back up, but that is about it with one or two others that nobody really wants. That is the harsh reality for the likes of Brendan Hartley as they aren't great or special so they are on the fringes.
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The FIA has bought in a super licence requirement for all Formula One drivers.
From next year you can race to earn points towards your Super Licence. One needs to obtain 40 points to get one and the only way is racing at different levels and doing well. The E Sports racing winner this year will automatically receive 40 points and be eligible to then race Formula One cars. 25 points allows you to practice on a Friday with the teams if you are invited. The FIA will award 1 point for every 100 km in a Formula One car up to a maximum of 10 points over 3 years. Penalties can now cost you points against your licence.
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Win the V8 Supercar Series 3 years in a row and 4 Friday practice sessions gets you a Super Licence.
Anyone applying for a Super licence today has to have competed in at least 80 percent of two years of championship racing. Be over 18 which is known as the Verstappen clause as it was changed after he arrived on the scene at 16. They want experienced drivers now with a proven racing history behind them. Max has a karting background and only did one year of Formula 3 so today he wouldn't be able to just walk in and drive. The fear is someone like Raikonnen would have struggled to make these requirements when he was younger.
To explain it further there is a list of racing categories in the picture below. Drivers that do well will get in comfortably ,but it is over 3 seasons before you start losing the first years points tally.
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The reason behind it is to raise the standard of drivers coming through the system. Safety is paramount and just because you have the money doesn't mean you get to race anymore. Drivers like Stroll and Perez would have struggled with this as just having a rich daddy or major sponsors behind you won't get you a seat at the table.
Another way to stop the rich drivers fast tracking the system is by not allowing them to enter various championships and have to complete one at a time. If someone gets 15 points the first year,12 the second year and 12 the next year and are on 39 points they would have to race another year hoping to get 16 or more as the first year points falls away after 3 years. I think this is great if you have a Super Licence already, but can see penalty points coming into effect in the future where drivers are banned for x amount of races for a certain type of punishment. Today there aren't enough drivers with the Super Licence so it would be pointless starting this right now.
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Perez deliberately drives into Sirokin. Next year he could lose his licence for this type of move.
Who could forget Perez deliberately driving Ocon off the track and it is incidents like that which would see a driver lose his licence. Personally I think the FIA is using what happened to Ocon as the reason behind all of this as like many must have been disgusted at his treatment. Perez got the seat at Force India now known as Racing Point and was quite obviously only down to finances as Ocon was by far the better driver. The FIA wants to bring a fairer and more even playing field for everyone to race in.
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Moments before Ocon is pushed into the barriers by Perez. He has a history and needs to be very careful from 2020. There will be at least another 10 drivers with Super Licences available to race and a move like this which was done clearly on purpose will see him lose his licence.
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The end result of the above shunt into the barriers for Ocon.
I can see within 5 years a whole host of drivers coming through and teams having 2 or 3 extras on their teams. Maybe the grid will suddenly have 30 cars and not 20 as there are enough drivers to go around. The sport is changing opening up something that was closed to the average guy in the street who has a genuine talent for racing and doesn't have the financial backing.
In 2012 Jenson Button had to pay over $250 000 to obtain his Super licence as it was done on a points system. If you earned x amount of points during that Formula One season they would act as a credit towards the licence. It was all about the money back then and it still is in someway as racing isn't cheap. To obtain a seat in one of the smaller championship series you may have to bring sponsors as part of your deal still.
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That's kinda strict way but I see players competency will be that very high. So a worthy people will only get the super license.
I didn't know about this but looks logical. As you say, daddy's money or sponsor's bank account won't help you, you have to earn your way in. I believe it was a necessary measure and had to happen one day. The sooner the better.
This sounds kind of similar to some of the points systems that they have in racing over here. It will be interesting to see how it sorts out for all of the drivers. It is definitely going to end up leaving some out in the cold!