FIA Meeting: Most race victories wins championship
17 March 2009
The 2009 Formula One World Champion will be the man who wins most races, following rules changes imposed by governing body the FIA. The World Motorsport Council (WMSC) met at Paris headquarters to discuss the changes first suggested by commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone.
The Federation accepted the proposal from Formula One Management (FOM), and the driver who wins the most Grands Prix will now become champion, as opposed to the most points. However, as a variation to Ecclestone's idea, no medals will be awarded to drivers. Consistency will remain vital, as points will decide the title in the event of any number of drivers scoring the same amount of race wins.
The scoring system remains the same with 10 points for a win, 8 for second position, 6 for third and 5-4-3-2-1 down to eighth place; the number of points will still decide any position in the standings other than first. The Constructors' championship will remain the same, and will once again by decided by points only.
Contrary to popular belief, with the new race wins system in place, the FIA rejected FOTA's idea of changing the number of points scored for first, second and third to a 12-9-7 system.
FIA Meeting: Radical cost-cutting for 2010
17 March 2009
A radical rule change to the technical regulations to apply from 2010 has been confirmed by the FIA, which aims to improve the show as well as reducing the overall running costs of the sport. The changes will result in teams being able to run on significantly reduced budgets, thus opening new doors for F1 debutants.
The governing body met in Paris on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the matter, and allowed the new rules to give teams a choice: to either run under current technical rules (as discussed by the Formula One Teams' Association in Geneva this month) or be granted greater technical freedom with the cost of an enforced expenditure limit.
Those teams wishing to be allowed more freedom towards the development of their cars will be subject to the budget cap, which will remain the same until 2012; budgets will be limited to a maximum of £30m (approximately €33m or $42m), with that figure covering expenditure of any kind for a team - anything supplied for free would be closely looked at by the FIA.
The FIA explained that, by having greater technical freedom - an idea introduced by President Max Mosley - the teams will be able to develop more aerodynamically efficient undersides to their cars, moveable wings and engines which do not contain a rev limiter or involve a development freeze.
The governing body also stressed that it will have the right to amend these freedoms to ensure that cost-capped teams are neither advantaged or disadvantaged to those who elect to carry on running under the current rules.
FIA Meeting: Greater public and media access to F1
17 March 2009
The FIA's Paris meeting on Tuesday involved discussions on a wide range of subjects ranging from cost-cutting and the scoring system to testing regulations. Apart from saving money, the governing body's focus was to open Formula 1 up to the public and media for which they have introduced a variety of new rules.
From 2009 onwards, the following regulations will apply:
Cars
- Weights of all cars will be published after qualifying
- Wet tyres have been renamed as 'Intermediate'
- Extreme wet tyres renamed as 'Wet'
Drivers
- On the first day of practice, drivers must attend a pit lane autograph session
- All drivers eliminated from qualifying must be immediately available for interviews
- Any race retirees must be available for interviews on their return to the paddock
- Drivers finishing outside the top three must be available for interviews after the race
Teams
- A spokesperson must be available for television interviews during races
FIA Meeting: New test sessions for rookie drivers
17 March 2009
Another topic discussed at today's FIA meeting was the current rules of testing in Formula 1; having started this year, the ban prohibiting all teams from testing during the season remains, although straight-line testing rules have been amended as well as the introduction of new sessions for rookie drivers.
Starting this season, the governing body has granted all teams permission to run three separate one-day 'rookie' sessions between the last race in Abu Dhabi (1 November) and 31 December; these tests will give drivers new to Formula 1 cars the chance to demonstrate their abilities to the teams. Those behind the wheel must have competed in no more than two races during the previous two years, or tested an F1 car on more than four days of the same period.
For aerodynamic testing, teams are still able to carry out eight separate one-day tests at either straight-line or oval venues, which must be approved by the FIA; these tests can take place at any point between 1 January and the last race of the season.
