What's the GPDA's role in all of this? I'd have thought they would have been the ones pushing the drivers point of view forward not Hamilton (that's not to say that Hamilton voicing his opinions about it is a bad thing, he naturally brings more publicity and attention to a drivers view of the current set-up)
Yes, they are. Alexander Wurz made it a point to emphasise this last year, when he could finally convince the last hold-outs to join the GPDA.
He said that it took a long time to get the drivers to focus on the bigger picture, because they'd usually spent the brief time they were together needling each other and moaning about various moves they were convinced should have been penalized.
Wurz furthermore said the GPDA has 'weekly contact' with the major players in the series to make sure they understand the drivers' point of view and their concerns, although he was quick to add that he understood the powers that be have other factors to consider as well.