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From GMM

F1 drivers are threatening to strike if their teams do not pay them.

Germany's Sport Bild reports that, in Bahrain recently, Kimi Raikkonen's manager Steve Robertson was seen arguing in the paddock with Lotus team boss Federico Gastaldi.

Reportedly, that is because the Finn, who switched to Ferrari at the end of last year, still has not been paid in full by Lotus for the 2013 season.

The magazine claims that Romain Grosjean, Nico Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil and Kamui Kobayashi are all also waiting on overdue payments.

It is believed that, under the auspices of their union, the GPDA, the F1 drivers have signed a document vowing to strike if the growing trend of not being paid continues.

Sport Bild claims that Raikkonen - not a GPDA member - and one of F1's very highest earners, Lewis Hamilton, have refused to sign the document.

Starting grid in Bahrain. (Photo: WRi2)

Nico Hulkenberg would not comment.

"What we talk about in meetings, we keep to ourselves," said the German, who moved from Sauber to Sahara Force India for the 2014 season.

He admitted, however, that unpaid wages is an issue for the drivers.

"That's right. The teams are aware of the situation -- the driver can be easily replaced. Maybe not with the same quality, but they (the teams) do take advantage of that."

Nico Hulkenberg also expressed some understanding for the situation of the teams.

"They are not doing it (failing to pay drivers) for fun," he acknowledged. "The money just isn't there. The sport is too expensive."

Pirelli tires are allocated to the Formula 1 teams randomly with the help of a bar code, a process carried out by the FIA: the sport's governing body.

The barcode is the tire's ‘passport', which is embedded firmly into the structure during the vulcanisation process and cannot be swapped.

The code contains all the details of each tire, making it traceable throughout the race weekend with Pirelli's RTS (Racing Tire System) software.

The FIA receives a list of the bar codes and then allocates each bar code - and therefore each tire - to every team at random. Pirelli itself is not involved in this process at all, meaning that the Italian firm cannot influence which tires are allocated to which teams - although a rigorous quality control process ensures that all the tires leaving the factory are entirely identical.

Once at the circuit, the tires are then distributed to the teams in strict compliance with the list that has been previously prepared by the FIA.

The bar codes allow both the FIA and Pirelli to ensure that the right teams, according to the regulations, are using the correct tires.

Checking the bar code of a Pirelli tire. (Photo: Pirelli)

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EDITOR WES RAYNAL: The ZL1 is my favorite Camaro, but I would opt for the coupe. Don't know that I'd get the automatic transmission, either, though this seemed a fine example.