FIA categorization of GT drivers
What is the FIA driver categorisation, and how does it work? Here is all you need to know.
The main determining factors for the driver categorisation are age + career record. Their overall race pace is also taken into consideration. Every year, the categorization is reviewed per request. These ratings are used by different series, for example, GTWC, IMSA, WEC, and so on, to set-up teams in Pro-Am class. It is used only in GT.
There are 4 levels to the ranking: Bronze - Silver - Gold - Platinum. Once a driver reaches Platinum, they can’t fall back down, however, in other cases, it is possible.
One of the key factors that are taken into consideration is experience. For example, any driver competing in FIA Formula 2 automatically receives the Gold ranking without any previous GT experience. If they compete in F1, it’s Platinum.
Here are the definitions of the drivers in each tier (via dailysportscar.com):
Platinum
= current or past Super Licence holder, practice licences included
Performances and achievements are at the Platinum driver level
Career:
top 5 finishers of a Tier 1 Series, and/or
comparable level of performance to Platinum drivers, and/or
any additional criteria deemed worthy of consideration by the Committee
Gold:
= main professional activity based around driving in motorsport. Participation in high-level karting for three or more seasons. Participation in significant single-seater competitions for more than two seasons with at least one podium. The driver’s motorsport career (karting or cars) began before the age of 20 with at least five full seasons of results.
Career:
top 5 finisher of a Tier 2 Series
winner of a Tier 3 Series (overall or category in multi-class racing), and/or
a comparable level of performance to Gold drivers, and/or
any additional criteria deemed worthy of consideration by the Committee
Silver:
= a driver under 30, who is in their first year with a license. A driver under 30 with no significant single-seater or karting experience. A driver deriving an income from motor sport related activities. A driver under 30 who began their motorsport career in their 20s.
Career:
comparable level of performance to Silver drivers, and/or
any further criteria deemed worthy of consideration by the Committee
Bronze
= a driver who obtained their first licence after the age of 30 or in their first year of motorsport without any results thus far.
Career:
comparable level of performance to Bronze drivers, and/or
any further criteria deemed worthy of consideration by the Committee
There are many more rules and clauses to the categorization, but ultimately its purpose is to equalize the performance in Pro-Am (Professional - Amateur) entries. The rankings cannot be changed during the season.
Here you can find the complete rules for the rankings.
Here you can find the list of all drivers with a ranking and their ranking level.
