Niki Lauda during the 1982 drivers strike (South African GP 1982)
Some info about the strike (I orginally wrote this in the tags but exceeded the limit, so I had re write it and add it here instead lol)
One of the most iconic and well known drivers strikes in the history of F1, is of course the 1982 South African GP. Known to fans as the famous sleepover/slumber party of 1982!!
(I'll try to briefly explain what caused it and how everything that followed happened. Mostly from Niki's perspective of course.)
In 1982, Niki was coming back into the F1 world with McLaren. FISA (the guys responsible for the rules in F1 at that time) sent him and other drivers the new super licence form during the winter break. But there was a problem. The new rules removed the power and right of the driver to have a single year contract and to switch teams. It gave the teams power forcing them into and if I remembering correctly a decided amount of years (so more than a year) and they must also share all their financial information with FISA. They will be tied to the team they signed with only. add to that it also gave the teams the right to switch racers with each other WITHOUT THE RACERS CONSENT. It also stated that they couldn't speak ill or so something that'll ruin the image of the FISA & FIA (kinda remind you of something in current modern F1 doesn't it?)
Niki saw it as a way to not only to take the autonomy of the driver but also their rights, so he called Didier Pironi (who was the chairman of the GP drivers association) about it and they began their plan. Many drivers had already signed it, since they were pressured by their managers and teams. Add to that alot of them had no way of contacting other drivers so the pressure was too much.
Then came the South African GP. Niki and Didier had a meeting with the FISA & FOCA (constructors association) to negotiate the terms. in Niki's words “FISA president Balestre and Ecclestone had teamed up to show us who was really in charge. We had a choice, it appeared 'accept the conditions as set out or go to hell'.“ So they organised a drivers meeting and they decided to boycott Thursday practice.
Then came Thursday, Niki and Didier convinced the drivers to enter a bus they had hired and made their way to Sunnyside hotel in Johannesburg. funny thing is a mini-van tried stopping them before they left, by blocking their path, so Jacques Laffite got out and drove it out of the way then came back into the bus. The press of course followed them but they refused to talk to anyone till the men in charge agreed to their terms.
FISA & FOCA plus the organizer's decided to postpone the race and to also suspend the drivers licences.
Niki felt it would be better if they all shared the same room, because if they were separated some drivers might chicken out and leave. So he talked to the hotel and organized for them to all sleep in the banquet room. They entertained themselves with the piano in the room (Elio and Gilles knew how to play so they entertained their colleagues) they also got to know each other more as people. All of this was happening while Didier was still negotiating.
Also Arrow manager Jacky Oliver tried forcing his way in with the police. A quote from Niki on what happened: "He had a local rough-neck with him and tried to force his way in. He had even brought the police along, and we had to be very careful to avoid a brawl, which would have given them and excuse to step in. They got the door half open and were nearly inside before we pushed the out again, using the piano to block the door."
They barakated themselves in the room, though there wasn't a bathroom in the banquet room, so they had a single key to let them out to do their business. They had to trust that the other would comeback in and not leave. But one driver left that night and didnt return. It was Teo Fabi. This only ruined his reputation among the drivers, they also stated that he lost their respect. (Add to that he told the big guys aka Ecclestone & Balestre everything they discussed)
The next day came and some teams decided that they'll hire others to driver for them. (It didn't work since many felt the situation was too sticky)
FINALLY, the FISA & FOCA & organizer's agreed to a verbal truce and that non of the drivers would be punished. The driver's could return to the track and race hooray!!
Saturday came and Prost won the race! Then all of the drivers licences were suspended and they were fined and faced racing bans. Then the FIA put on its big boy pants and criticised everyone involved. They also reduced the drivers fine to 5000 dollar to still punish them for "misbehaving" and their race bans were suspended but they were warned that they would be inforced if the drivers "misbehaved" again.
Their efforts payed off as super licence was back to it's original form!
tangentwithtanner
theartofmadeline
dailybridgerton
vaporwave
andulkaphoto
