Williams have been temporarily suspended from the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA). It follows Monday’s confirmation that Williams have lodged a formal entry for next year’s championship, despite the ongoing dispute between the teams and the FIA over the 2010 regulations.

“FOTA’s decision, although regrettable, is understandable,” said team principal Frank Williams after the news emerged from a meeting of team bosses in London on Wednesday. “However, as a racing team and a company whose only business is Formula One, with obligations to our partners and our employees, submitting our entry to next year’s championship was unquestionable.

“In addition, we are legally obliged under our contract with FOM and the FIA to participate in the world championship until the end of 2012.”

Teams have until this Friday (May 29) to submit their entries for 2010, but several have suggested they will not do so unless the FIA modifies plans to introduce an optional £40 million budget cap in exchange for more technical freedom.

During last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix all ten teams wrote to the FIA, requesting that the existing 2009 technical rules be retained for next season to allow more time for the future framing of the Formula One regulations to be considered.

Source - F1.com

Image (c) Bridgestone Corporation

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Formula 1 has introduced a new points system which will result in the driver with most wins crowned world champion.

The current points system will still operate to decide a tie if two drivers have the same wins and to define all other championship positions.

Had the new rules been in place in 2008, Lewis Hamilton would have lost the title to runner-up Felipe Massa.

From 2010, there will be an optional budget cap of £30m that will reduce some teams’ spending by 90%.

The new rules were approved by the World Motor Sport Council of governing body the FIA at a meeting in Paris on Tuesday.

It rejected a proposal by the F1 Teams’ Association to tweak the points system to 12-9-7-5-4-3-2-1 from first to eighth places.

Instead, the current 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 system will stay in place.

The budget cap is an attempt to make F1 more accessible to new teams.

Teams choosing to operate within the budget cap will be allowed more technical freedom.

Those teams will be allowed: a more aerodynamically efficient (but standard) underbody; movable wings; an engine which is not subject to a rev limit or a development freeze.

Teams can choose to spend what they like, but operate within more restrictive technical rules - and therefore have a theoretically slower car.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone announced his intention to shake-up the points system at the end of last season.

TITLES THAT WOULD HAVE CHANGED 1958: Actual champion: Mike Hawthorne  Most wins champion: Stirling Moss 1964: Actual champion: John Surtees  Most wins champion: Jim Clark 1967: Actual champion: Denny Hulme  Most wins champion: Jim Clark 1977: Actual champion: Niki Lauda  Most wins champion: Mario Andretti 1979: Actual champion: Jody Scheckter  Most wins champion: Alan Jones 1981: Actual champion: Nelson Piquet  Most wins champion: Alain Prost 1982: Actual champion: Keke Rosberg  Most wins champion: Didier Pironi 1983: Actual champion: Nelson Piquet  Most wins champion: Alain Prost 1984: Actual champion: Niki Lauda  Most wins champion: Alain Prost 1986: Actual champion: Alain Prost  Most wins champion: Nigel Mansell 1987: Actual champion: Nelson Piquet  Most wins champion: Nigel Mansell 1989: Actual champion: Ayrton Senna  Most wins champion: Alain Prost 2008: Actual champion: Lewis Hamilton  Most wins champion: Felipe Massa

Ecclestone’s idea was to award the top three drivers with gold, silver and bronze medals with the driver capturing the most golds crowned champion.

While the medals have been abandoned, the new system delivers on Ecclestone’s wish of rewarding the driver with the most victories.

The F1 chief believes the new system will encourage overtaking.

“If you’re in the lead and I’m second, I’m not going to take the risk of falling off the circuit or doing something stupid to get two points,” Ecclestone said in November.

“If I need a gold medal to win the championship, I will overtake. It’s just not on that someone can win the championship without winning a race.”

However, the new system could see the season settled much earlier.

The points distribution was introduced in 2003, partly to try to ensure the world championship stayed open for longer at a time when Michael Schumacher and Ferrari were dominating the sport.

If the new system had been installed in 2008, Massa would have been crowned world champion as he won six races compared to Hamilton’s five.

Former British F1 driver now commentator Martin Brundle says he will reserve judgement on the alterations.

“I don’t really fully see the need to change it,” he said. “What we may just have is some more exciting races where they’re desperate to take the win rather than settling for second on a particular day, but whether it will generate a more worthy champion remains to be seen.”

The FIA also announced plans to publish the weights of the cars after qualifying for each Grand Prix.

That could give a clue to which teams are using the optional kinetic energy recovery system (Kers).

Kers, which allows drivers a boost of an extra 80bhp for 6.7 seconds each lap, weighs around 35kg and could tip some cars - complete with their drivers - over the minimum weight of 605kg.

To improve clarity, wet tyres have also been renamed “intermediates” and extreme weather tyres are now called “wet”.

With in-season testing now banned, the FIA will only allow teams to carry out eight one-day aerodynamic tests on a straight piece of track.

Teams will also be allowed to carry out three one-day young driver training tests between the season-ending Grand Prix and the end of the calendar year.

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