Quote:
Originally Posted by JT240Z
I've never understood this whole driver classification thing. Someone please explain to me why a driver who does well can be forced out of a professional team because he* did his job too well. Seems to me that it adds another BoP thing but to the driver's vs the cars. Another way for politics to enter the racing scene.
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That has been levelled at the ACO in the past, when certain drivers always seemed to escape higher ratings. But honestly, now they do a good job of taking a full range of performances/results into account. I think it was more a case of the ACO not putting enough resources/manpower into monitoring driver performances in the early days of driver ratings.
The official answer is that bronze, and to a lesser extent, silver, ratings are a way to ensure that amateur drivers (literally meaning drivers whose main source of income is not racing) have adequate seat time and aren't just used as funding sources for all-pro driver lineups. Hence the regulations that state minimum driver times for different driver ratings in various classes. If you want to consider this a way of applying BoP to drivers, that's valid, but it has a basis in keeping a pathway open for true gentleman drivers to compete.
Silver is where the line is rather blurred. It encompasses the faster, more reliable amateur drivers, but it also houses most young, would-be professional drivers who could successfully argue that they have not raced enough to justify a higher rating. The reasoning is that they get a silver rating until such point that they have demonstrated (through pace, consistency, and/or results) that they should be move up to gold and beyond. But if a well-established team finds a driver who has the talent in regional/national series, they have a clear pace advantage over the "classic" amateur - as the adage goes, you are only as fast as your slowest driver. This is more pronounced in ACO-style series which mandate driver time by driver ratings.
UA are past masters at this, Phil Hanson being a prime example - he was the fastest silver around in 2020, often showing pace on-par with Albuquerque and Di Resta. It's little surprise that they cleaned up in 2020, and that Hanson was promptly moved up to gold for the next season. This could be seen as another example of the ACO acting too late or too cautiously. They are far more pro-active now, as seen by the number of appeals they have had recently, and the rather swift action taken to move a bunch of drivers to gold, Pierson and Sato amongst them. As there will always be "super silvers" waiting to be discovered, I think the ACO are right to be on the front foot with rating reviews, and then drivers/teams can appeal if they wish.
*or she, as Sarah Bovy would no doubt be able to explain at length!