FIA completes London meeting but says that Formula 1 changes 'will be announced in the coming days'
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Updated 15/02/2022 at 08:50 GMT
The FIA has delayed announcing its proposed changes for the 2022 Formula 1 season. The governing body and F1 teams met in London on Monday to discuss the findings of an inquiry into last season's controversial season finale, which saw Max Verstappen take the title ahead of Lewis Hamilton. But FIA president Mohamed ben Sulayem wants to get feedback from the teams first before going public.
Race director Michael Masi has been under intense scrutiny since the 2021 F1 season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Image credit: Getty Images
The FIA have delayed the announcement of changes to Formula 1 for the upcoming season, with president Mohamed ben Sulayem set to wait a few more days before sharing his recommendations.
The findings of an inquiry into the 2021 season finale - which saw Max Verstappen take the title ahead of Lewis Hamilton after a series of controversial decisions by race director Michael Masi - were shared on Monday at a meeting in London between the FIA and all the F1 teams.
But rather than release the results, Ben Sulayem has opted to wait. It is believed the reason for doing so is because he wants to incorporate feedback from the teams into the reforms.
The enormous fallout from the Abu Dhabi denouement and the fact it will be Ben Sulayem's first and most conspicuous act as the new FIA president are perhaps two further reasons why extra time has been taken.
The statement read: "The FIA President led detailed discussions of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
"Feedback from the commission on matters raised will be incorporated into the president’s analysis and he will publicly present news of structural changes and action plan in the coming days."
Present at the central London meeting were Christian Horner and Toto Wolff, team principals of Red Bull and Mercedes respectively.
The pair, regularly at loggerheads last term as their drivers went toe-to-toe, will likely take centre stage again in 2022 in a hotly-anticipated campaign.
Hamilton for his part is set to return to the start line, scotching rumours over the winter that he was set to quit the sport after the painful events of last December.
Sprint format and points changes
There have been two changes for the 2022 season to come out of the F1 Commission meeting.
The first is that the sprint format will be run at three races - the Emilia Romagna, Austrian and Sao Paulo Grands Prix.
The sprint races were introduced last year and determined the grid for the main race of the weekend. This season there will be more points on offer - with the top eight drivers scoring points (eight down to one) - and the driver who sets the fastest time in qualifying, rather than wins the sprint, will get pole position in the Grand Prix.
Another change comes with the way points will be awarded if a race does not complete its intended race distance.
Last year there was frustration as the Belgian Grand Prix ran for two laps behind the safety car due to bad weather and winner Verstappen and the rest of the top 10 were awarded half points.
Now no points will be awarded unless a minimum of two laps have been completed by the leader without a safety car. If two laps have been done but less than 25 per cent of the scheduled race distance, the top-five finishers will be awarded points (6 down to one) and if the race has been more than 25 per cent but less than 50 per cent than the top nine will get points (from 13 to one).
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