Part 2

PRUETT: Contracts vs realities

By: Marshall Pruett | December 5, 2019 9:19 AM

The silence from Hinchcliffe and Bourdais reveals another uncomfortable reality with racing contracts. In a form of the sport that lacks a union for its athletes, there’s no leverage to apply when you’re benched in favor of a new prospect, or get cut to keep the budget from turning black to red.

As Formula 1 teams elevated the poaching of drivers and senior technical staff into an art during the early 1990s, the FIA created the Contracts Recognition Board, which proved useful when unruly behavior disrupted the paddock. Rather than pour untold millions into legal scrums between Team A and Team B, the CRB was employed to resolve the bad behavior and rule in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Whenever a stick-and-ball athlete is thrown into a contractual dispute, it’s not uncommon to hear the names of the National Football League Players Association, or the National Basketball League Players Association mentioned as the watchdog organizations who lead vigorous fights on their behalf. In IndyCar, IMSA and NASCAR, and every other series that comes to mind, there’s no union to call when things go sideways with an owner.

Without a powerful union to provide protection, drivers are left to choose between risking financial peril or accepting a token buyout that comes with a big piece of tape across their mouths.
Hinchcliffe’s warnings of 2018 sound even more prescient – and poignant – now. Image by LAT

It could be nothing more than a coincidence, but Hinchcliffe and Bourdais, the two who’ve pushed the hardest throughout the 2010s for the proper treatment of drivers and improvements in driver safety, are now on the outside looking in.

In an opinion piece filed to RACER in September of 2018, Hinchcliffe presented a compelling argument for the creation of the protective body that could have served him, Bourdais, and others in the future.

“The goal is not for us to be stomping our feet and screaming, ‘this is not right’ and talking about boycotting races,” he wrote.

“We don’t want to be officiating or writing the rules — letting drivers do that would be the worst thing you could go and do! The Grand Prix Drivers’ Association in Formula 1 is more geared toward allowing drivers to have a say in conversations about the sport itself, and it is certainly very effective for some things. But it doesn’t protect drivers in the sense that I would like to see, and the way that other players unions do. I do think it’s important that we have a voice, and that we make sure that the drivers are being looked after the way that athletes are in other pro sports.”

Drivers suffered from a lack of imagination before the contractual strife cropped up in October and November. For those who entertained the naive notion of, “There’s no way it could happen to me,” ask one of IndyCar’s most popular drivers and the series’ last remaining link to Canada whether it’s possible. Or ask the four-time champion who was sought by Chip Ganassi to pair with Scott Dixon in 2018, and again in 2019, and was pursued a few months ago by McLaren to replace Hinchcliffe, only to have his team owner shoot down all three opportunities for the Frenchman to close his IndyCar career in style.

“I’ve talked about this with some of the other drivers in IndyCar, and the feedback I’ve gotten has been mostly positive,” Hinchcliffe continued. “The issue is that drivers are terrified of angering team owners. They don’t want to lose their job. And that makes sense; nobody wants to lose their jobs. I’m no different.”

It’s no surprise to learn that in the 13 months between Hinchcliffe’s impassioned argument and his benching by AMSP, the concept of drivers banding together for their collective betterment went absolutely nowhere.

What’s happened to Hinchcliffe and Bourdais is done, and there’s no turning back. The support for both drivers from fans and rivals has been heartwarming, but goodwill isn’t a currency that holds value. Will they find full-time IndyCar drives in the future? It’s impossible to say at this point, but meetings continue to take place that offer glimpses of encouragement.

And will this happen again at the end of the upcoming season? That’s the lingering area of concern.
Who will be the next left behind? Image by Michael Levitt/LAT

A worrying precedent has been set with Hinchcliffe and Bourdais. If you’re a driver whose appearances in victory lane have been far too infrequent, or your finishing position in the championship has been underwhelming, don’t look to that multi-year contract as your savior next September when Team X announces it has hired someone younger or wealthier as your replacement.

Most owners are never mentioned in these disputes, which deserves praise and respect. Coincidentally, those also tend to be the team owners who achieve the highest degree of success. But elsewhere, and until drivers form a coalition, or IndyCar steps in with a CRB of its own to restore the lost value of contracts, the same old story will continue be written.

“There needs to be some sort of mechanism that protects the people that are out there risking their lives to put on a show for the fans, and support the sponsors, and all the rest of it,” Hinchcliffe warned. “Drivers feel very disposable at the moment. And it’s heartbreaking.”