The FIA held its latest World Motor Sport Council meeting in Paris and the F1 Calendar has been announced.

The FIA held its latest World Motor Sport Council meeting today in Paris.

During the Council meeting, the following decisions were taken:

FIA Formula One World Championship

The World Motor Sport Council approved, by a near unanimous number (just one vote against), a mandate for the FIA President, Jean Todt and the Representative of the Commercial Rights Holder, Bernie Ecclestone to make recommendations and decisions regarding a number of pressing issues in Formula One such as governance, Power Units and cost reduction. Mr Todt and Mr Ecclestone expressed their intention to establish conclusions on these matters by 31 January, 2016.

The World Motor Sport Council also approved a number of changes to the F1 Technical and Sporting Regulations.

Technical

The number of power unit tokens allowed for in-season development will be allocated as follows over the coming seasons:

-        2016 – 32

-        2017 – 25

-        2018 – 20

-        2019 – 15

Any new Power Unit manufacturer will be allocated 15 tokens in their first year, and 32 in their second.

The padded areas around the driver’s head have been increased in thickness for improved safety.

Sporting

Changes have been approved by the World Motor Sport Council in regard to the way that tyres are used by teams in order to encourage differing race strategies in 2016. These include:

-        The tyre supplier will now provide three dry-weather compounds instead of two

-        Of the 13 sets of dry tyres available to each driver, the tyre supplier will choose two for the race (only one of which must be used in the race), and one set (the softest available) that may only be used in Q3. Each driver may then choose their remaining ten sets from the three available compounds

-        Unless intermediate or wet-weather tyres have been used, a driver must use at least two different specifications of dry-weather tyres – at least one of these must be the one chosen by the tyre supplier.

In the event of a Virtual Safety Car (VSC), DRS will now be re-enabled immediately after the VSC period. Furthermore, the VSC may also be used in practice sessions to reduce the amount of time lost during a stoppage.

Power Units homologated in previous seasons may now be re-homologated. Previously no manufacturer could supply more than one specification of PU. The World Motor Sport Council was also advised that the FIA had agreed for Ferrari to supply a fourth customer team with a 2015-specification Power Unit in 2016.

The maximum number of Championship events in a season has been increased to 21 (from 20). The calendar for the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship has been confirmed:

20 March	Melbourne	Australia
3 April	Bahrain	Bahrain
17 April	Shanghai	China
1 May	Sochi	Russia
15 May	Barcelona	Spain
29 May	Monte Carlo	Monaco
12 June	Montreal	Canada
19 June	Baku	Azerbaijan*
3 July	Spielberg	Austria
10 July	Silverstone	United Kingdom
24 July	Budapest	Hungary
31 July	Hockenheim	Germany
28 August	Spa-Francorchamps	Belgium
4 September	Monza	Italy
18 September	Singapore	Singapore
2 October	Sepang	Malaysia
9 October	Suzuka	Japan
23 October	Austin	USA**
30 October	Mexico City	Mexico
13 November	Sao Paolo	Brazil
27 November	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates

*race start to be scheduled to avoid conflict with the conclusion of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

**subject to agreement with the promoter and the ASN

FIA Formula 2 Championship

The World Motor Sport Council gave a mandate to the President to formalise the contract between the FIA and the GP2 promoter for the establishment of the FIA Formula 2 Championship to complete the FIA’s single-seater pyramid from Karting to Formula One.

FIA Formula 3 European Championship

The 2016 FIA Formula 3 European Championship calendar was approved by the World Motor Sport Council:

3 April	Paul Ricard	France
24 April	Hungaroring	Hungary
15 April	Pau	France
22 May	Spielberg	Austria
26 June	Norisring	Germany
17 July	Zandvoort	Netherlands
30 July	Spa-Francorchamps	Belgium*
11 September	Nurburgring	Germany
2 October	Imola	Italy
16 October	Hockenheim	Germany

*subject to contractual agreement with the promoter

In order to further stabilise the current F3 market, keep costs under control and allow regional F3 projects to grow, the lifetime of the current F3 chassis is extended until the end of 2019. A safety update kit will be introduced in 2017 or 2018. Details of the safety updates carried out will be submitted to the June 2016 WMSC.

The World Motor Sport Council also accepted the Single-Seater Commission’s recommendation to emphasise the importance of developing Regional Formula 3 championships around the world. This is designed to promote the progression of young drivers into FIA championships once they are ready to graduate from their National F4 championships – at the end of the 2016 season, there will be 300 Formula 4 drivers and the focus for the FIA is to ensure that these drivers have somewhere to go.

FIA Formula E Championship

The World Motor Sport Council confirmed Mexico City on this season’s Formula E calendar, with an event scheduled for 12 March.

FIA World Endurance Championship

The World Motor Sport Council approved technical measures proposed by the Endurance Commission to make the FIA World Endurance Championship more appealing for new manufacturers to enter in the LMP1 category. These include regulations around ICEs, hybrid systems, aerodynamics, wind tunnel use and track test limitations.

The proposed calendar for the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship was approved:

17 April	6 Hours of Silverstone	Great Britain
7 May	6 Hours of Spa	Belgium
18/19 June	24 Hours of Le Mans	France
24 July	6 Hours of Nurburgring	Germany
4 September	6 Hours of Mexico City	Mexico
17 September	6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas	USA
16 October	6 Hours of Fuji	Japan
6 November	6 Hours of Shanghai	China
19 November	6 Hours of Bahrain	Bahrain

*subject to contractual agreement with the promoter

To continue the improvement of the safety of GT cars, the installation of racing nets homologated to FIA standard 8863-2013 will be mandatory in LMGTE cars to restrict the range of movement of a driver in the case of an accident. This measure has already been applied to GT3 cars.

FIA World Touring Car Championship

The World Motor Sport Council confirmed the introduction of the Manufacturers Against the Clock (MAC3) time-trial concept to the 2016 WTCC after qualifying at each race weekend that will contribute to the Manufacturers’ Championship. For this, each manufacturer will nominate three cars to participate in a two-lap “qualifying” run – the time will be stopped when the last car has crossed the finish line. Drivers participating in MAC3 will receive an extra set of tyres for the session.

The WTCC’s partial reverse grid race will now be Race 1 of the weekend from 2016 (it had been the second final race).

The provisional 2016 World Touring Car Championship calendar was approved by the World Motor Sport Council: 

20 March	TBD	TBD
3 April	Paul Ricard	France
17 April	Slovakiaring	Slovakia
24 April	Hungaroring	Hungary
8 May	Marrakech	Morocco
29 May	Nordschleife	Germany
12 June	Vila Real	Portugal
7 August	Termas de Rio Hondo	Argentina
4 September	Motegi	Japan
25 September	Shanghai	China
6 November	Buriram	Thailand
25 November	Losail	Qatar

CIK-FIA Karting

The World Motor Sport Council confirmed the introduction of single-cylinder engines in the Superkart category for Division 1 to reduce costs for competitors.

The establishment of a CIK-FIA Endurance Championship was approved for 2016, comprising a 24-hour race on 17-18 September at Le Mans, organised by the ACO.

FIA World Rally Championship

From 2016, WRC Organisers will be obliged to undertake the environmental certification process provided by the FIA before the event visa is delivered.

The 2016 WRC calendar was also confirmed:

22-24 January	Monte Carlo
12-14 February	Sweden
4-6 March	Mexico
22-24 April	Argentina
20-22 May	Portugal
10-12 June	Italy
1-3 July	Poland
29-31 July	Finland
19-21 August	Germany
9-11 September	China
30 September – 2 October	France
14-16 October	Spain
28-30 October	Great Britain
18-20 November	Australia

FIA World Rallycross Championship

The World Motor Sport Council approved the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship calendar:

16-17 April	Montalegre	Portugal
7-8 May	Hockenheim	Germany
14-15 May	Mettet	Belgium
28-29 May	Lydden Hill	Great Britain
11-12 June	Hell	Norway
2-3 July	Holjes	Sweden
6-7 August	Trois-Rivieres	Canada
3-4 September	Loheac	France
17-18 September	Barcelona	Spain
1-2 October	Riga	Latvia
15-16 October	Estering	Germany
26-27 October	Rosario	Argentina

FIA European Rallycross Championship competitors will now be separated from World RX drivers in Supercar qualifying heats.

FIA Rally Commission

The World Motor Sport Council approved the implementation of a one-hour penalty for any missed stage except for super special stages, where a seven-minute penalty will apply. This is to ensure that competitors running in all stages will always be classified of those that miss a stage.

The format of the FIA European Rally Trophy (ERT) has been amended with the main category being for R5/S2000 cars, ERT 2 for NR4 cars, ERT 3 for two-wheel drive cars, and a Junior Trophy for drivers born on or after 1 January 1989. The ERT will be organised in eight European area trophy competitions. The three highest scoring competitors in each area, and category, will compete in a Final that will be hosted by a different country each year. The winners of the Trophy Finals will be the winners of their respective ERT category.

FIA Hill Climb Commission

All FIA-sanctioned Hill Climb Championships have been reviewed and restructured, while the date for the FIA Hill Climb Masters was confirmed as 8-9 October, 2016 at Sternberk in the Czech Republic.

FIA Safety Commission

A new FIA Safety Harnesses Standard was approved which offers several improvements in relation to the current FIA Standard. The new harnesses will give protection to drivers during much severe crashes. The crash pulse severity is increased from 30 g to more than 60 g. The new standard will be implemented as from 1.1.2017 in Formula One, WEC, WRC and WTCC and then cascade down to all the FIA championships.

The World Motor Sport Council also approved the creation of a specification for extractable seats to be used in open cockpit cars. These are already used to some degree, however there are some cases where the seats do not meet the FIA specification.

FIA Drivers’ Commission

Emerson Fittipaldi, President of the Drivers’ Commission and two-time FIA Formula One World Champion has stepped down from the presidency to the position of Vice-President.

Nine-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, Tom Kristensen will assume the role of President of the FIA Drivers’ Commission.

FIA European Drag Racing Championship

The World Motor Sport Council approved the addition of the final round of the championship in Malta at the Malta Drag Raceway from 30 September to 2 October.

FIA Hall of Fame

The World Motor Sport Council approved the establishment of an FIA Hall of Fame, which will be launched at the 2016 FIA Sport Conference next June.