The World Motor Sport Council met in Paris on 17 March 2009. The following decisions were taken:

FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 

A number of measures were agreed to help reduce costs and increase interest in the FIA Formula One World Championship. 

2009 Formula One Regulations

Points 

The WMSC accepted the proposal from Formula One Management to award the drivers’ championship to the driver who has won the most races during the season. If two or more drivers finish the season with the same number of wins, the title will be awarded to the driver with the most points, the allocation of points being based on the current 10, 8, 6 etc. system. 

The rest of the standings, from second to last place, will be decided by the current points system. There is no provision to award medals for first, second or third place. The Constructors’ Championship is unaffected.

The WMSC rejected the alternative proposal from the Formula One Teams’ Association to change the points awarded to drivers finishing in first, second and third place to 12, 9 and 7 points respectively. 

Testing

Teams will be allowed to carry out three one day young driver training tests between the end of the last event of the Championship and 31 December of the same year. Drivers are eligible only if they have not competed in more than two F1 World Championship Events in the preceding 24 months or tested a Formula One car on more than four days in the same 24 month period. 

Teams can also conduct eight one day aerodynamic tests carried out on FIA approved straight line or constant radius sites between 1 January 2009 and the end of the last Event of the 2009 Championship.

Media

The FIA will publish the weights of all cars after qualifying at each Event.

For greater clarity for spectators and media, wet tyres have been renamed “intermediate” and extreme-weather tyres renamed “wet”.

On the first day of practice all drivers must be available for autograph signing in their designated team space in the pit lane.

All drivers eliminated in qualifying must make themselves available for media interviews immediately after the end of each session. 

Any driver retiring before the end of the race must make himself available for media interviews after his return to the paddock.

All drivers who finish the race outside the top three must make themselves available immediately after the end of the race for media interviews.

During the race every team must make at least one senior spokesperson available for interviews by officially accredited TV crews.

A number of further amendments were adopted for the 2009 Technical Regulations. Full details will be available shortly on www.fia.com. 

2010 Formula One Regulations

Budgets

As an alternative to running under the existing rules, which are to remain stable until 2012, all teams will have the option to compete with cars built and operated within a stringent cost cap. 

The cost cap is £30m (currently approximately €33 or $42m). This figure will cover all expenditure of any kind. Anything subsidised or supplied free will be deemed to have cost its full commercial value and rigorous auditing procedures will apply.

To enable these cars to compete with those from teams which are not subject to cost constraints, the cost-capped cars will be allowed greater technical freedom.

The principal technical freedoms allowed are as follows:

1. A more aerodynamically efficient (but standard) under body.
2. Movable wings.
3. An engine which is not subject to a rev limit or a development freeze.

The FIA has the right to adjust elements of these freedoms to ensure that the cost-capped cars have neither an advantage nor a disadvantage when compared to cars running to the existing rules.

Click here for a Q&A document regarding the 2010 cost cap.

The Honda Racing F1 Team requested to change its name to the Brawn GP Formula One Team. The WMSC accepted this request on the basis that the team is, in effect, a new entry in the FIA Formula One World Championship. The contract the team had with the FIA was to run as ‘Honda’, which they are no longer in a position to do. However, the standard fee required for a new entry has been waived.

 
WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

In 2010, cars eligible to score points in the Manufacturers’ Championship include the present and future World Rally Cars, and Super 2000 cars. 

To reflect a need to further reduce and control costs, the proposed technical regulations for the future World Rally Car have been amended.

For the 2011 and 2012 Championships, the World Rally Car will be based on Super 2000 with the addition of a specified kit restricted to modifications to the bodywork, being removable aerodynamic devices. The car will be subject to specific technical regulations intended to control costs through restrictions on the changing of engines, transmissions and similar components. The maximum 8,500rpm for the engine will be maintained for all World Rally Championship and S2000 cars.

Present World Rally Cars will not be eligible for the Championship from 2011.

From 2013, it is proposed that the World Rally Car will continue to be Super 2000 based with a cost-effective 1.6 litre turbo engine. This is subject to review, based on the specification of the car produced by manufacturers for the mass market.

Environment 

The WMSC gave preliminary approval to a number of proposals from the FIA Environmentally Sustainable Motor Sport Commission (ESMSC). These proposals will now be discussed more widely with the Manufacturers, National Sporting Associations, Commissions, and other interested parties. 

At its first meeting, the ESMSC agreed that the consumption and emissions of motor sport are so small that the sport itself is not directly threatened by sustainability issues. However, addressing sustainability in motor sport can create directly relevant technologies and solutions for the wider automotive industry, and by acting as a catalyst for change motor sport can help champion sustainability across the entire sector.

It was further agreed that making motor sport a sustainable activity may well also open up new business opportunities for the motor sport industry in the widest sense.

As such, the ESMSC will work with the FIA Alternative Energies Commission and be responsible for:

1. Developing regulatory principles and measurement technologies for energy efficient based motor sport.

2. Working with FIA Commissions to develop progressive fuel consumption reduction targets for each FIA Championship and Series. 

3. Establishing criteria for acceptable fuels based on legislation/best practice. 

4. Reviewing the Recommended Green Racing Protocols document, produced by the Society of Automotive Engineering, to determine potential for harmonisation of protocols. 

5. Establishing guidelines and approved auditors and off-setters for carbon neutrality. 

6. Developing the principles of a pure energy-efficiency championship, completely open to any power train and any energy source. It must be insensitive to the performance of the vehicle itself. It should encourage competition between Manufacturers, Laboratories, Universities, and individuals, without becoming a spending race. 

7. Establishing best environmental practices for circuits and rallies; develop guidelines and training.

8. Coordinating safety regulations for the new technologies entering motor sport. 

Calendar 

2009 FIA GT Championship

**subject to the FIA homologation of the circuit.
Changes underlined from previously published calendar

The date for the Rally of Syria, part of the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, has been changed to 18-20 June.

The date for the Jordan Rally, part of the 2009 FIA Middle East Rally Championship, has been changed to 29-31 October.

The date for the Baja 500 Portalegre Rally, part of the 2009 FIA International Cup for Cross Country Bajas, has been changed to 29 October to 1 November.
 
 Source - FIA