Whining bastards!

Up until a few years ago it cost like $5 to get your superlicence which is the licence one needs to go racing a Formula One car. Then last year Max Mosley decided to increase the cost by eight to ten times the cost of the previous year. People grumbled as it was a lump sum plus X amount of dollars per point you scored. The front runners were whining about the fact that Force India cars aren't going to have to pay nearly as much as Ferrari or McLaren drivers would. I get the point, it does seem a little lopsided... however I strongly doubt any of the front running whiners would prefer to give up their seat at Ferrari or McLaren, as well as their massive salaries, to go to a team that have cheap superlicences and no chance what so ever of winning races or finishing in the points.

Of course not. Just like poor people don't have to pay as much in taxes as the rich. Sure, yer paying a bit more... but would you rather trade all your riches just so you aren't in such a high tax bracket? No, of course not.

That was 2008. Now it is 2009 and apparently the cost for a superlicence has risen even higher than last year and people are seriously getting pissed. Once again, there are talks of strikes that will never materialize and general pissing and moaning about how broke the FIA is making everybody.

The FIA says the price hike is to keep up with safety standards and such... and we know how much safety our F1 friends demand. So as long as it doesn't come out that Mosley is hoarding this money and spending it on more nasty hookers, I don't see the problem.

Lastly, so long as there are no budget caps in F1 the superlicence system will be somewhat lopsided.

The FIA can't win. You ask for more money for safety purposes you get poo-poo'ed. In an effort to cut costs you limit the amount a team can spend for the services of a driver. You get yelled at.

What to do? What to do?

While I feel F1 drivers should be rewarded handsomely for what they do, they already are. A salary cap is not going to make anybody poor. I am all for a salary cap and a one price for all superlicence.