New Point System, Tire Rules Approved for 2010

What has only been rumored in recent weeks has now become official, as the F1 Commission today confirmed some important rule changes for the upcoming season of Formula One. As reported by several media before, the point system was the first thing that was discussed by the FIA officials, who all agreed that a new format was needed.

Consequently, the FIA approved the Formula One Teams Association's (FOTA's) desire to award points to the top 10 finishers of the 2010 season, under the format: 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1. No points for pole position clinchers, no points for drivers who score a fastest lap during the race and a bigger point difference between the winner and the runner-up as compared to the initial project (2nd placed driver was supposed to score 20 points).

Additionally, the FIA also announced that new tire rules will make the Formula One regulation book next season, with the drivers that qualify for Q3 on Saturday being forced to start the race with the same set of tires.

“In order to introduce a further element of strategy, cars having participated in Q3 must start the race on the same set of tyres with which their grid time was set,” said the statement from the FIA.

“The number of dry weather tyres sets allocated per team has been reduced from 14 to 11. In addition, to encourage teams to run during the Friday practice sessions, one set has to be returned before the start of the second practice session, and two sets before the start of the third practice session,” added the Commission.

While revealing that “further measures for 2010 are also being examined,” the F1 Commission also confirmed the rear diffuser rules for this campaign. “The permitted height of the main diffuser was reduced from 175mm to 125mm and measures to exclude ‘double’ diffusers were agreed,” concluded the press release.