FIA announces World Motor Sport Council decisions

FIA President Jean Todt and Deputy President for Sport Graham Stoker hosted the third World Motor Sport Council of 2018 today in Paris

The following is a summary of the decisions taken during the meeting

FIA Formula One World Championship

The 2019 season calendar was approved as follows:

17 March Australia Melbourne 31 March Bahrain Sakhir 14 April China Shanghai 28 April Azerbaijan Baku 12 May Spain Barcelona 26 May Monaco Monaco 9 June Canada Montreal 23 June France Le Castellet 30 June Austria Spielberg 14 July Great Britain Silverstone 28 July Germany Hockenheim 4 August Hungary Budapest 1 September Belgium Spa 8 September Italy Monza 22 September Singapore Singapore 29 September Russia Sochi 13 October Japan Suzuka 27 October Mexico Mexico City 3 November USA Austin* 17 November Brazil São Paulo 1 December Abu Dhabi Yas Marina

* Subject to ASN approval

The Council approved changes to the 2019 Sporting Regulations including:

- Changes to the Safety Car regulations to ensure there is a consistent point at which drivers may overtake when the Safety Car returns to the pits. This will now be the same in all three types of restart

- The teams will now be responsible for initial scrutineering of their cars. Before the cars go on track for the first time, teams must declare conformity with all safety related matters

- The official end-of-race signal will now be a chequered light panel, although the chequered flag will still be shown

For 2020, the team personnel curfew – the amount of time for which all team personnel must be away from the track – will increase from eight to nine hours.

Formula 1 Strategy Group and Commission proposals concerning the 2019 Technical Regulations were agreed, including:

- Changes to the mirror regulations and also associated rear wing changes (height) for rear view visibility and safety (Articles 3.6 and 14.3)

- The on-board camera regulations will be modified to improve the TV spectacle (Article 21)

- Rear endplate lights are to be added for safety (Article 14.5)

- Minor modifications to the halo fairing (Article 15.2.6) are to be made for safety reasons during a potential driver extraction

Full details will be made available on FIA.com

A report on the security procedures to be put in place for the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix was presented to the Council, following meetings between the FIA, Formula 1 and the local authorities.

FIA Formula E Championship

An updated version of the 2018/19 season calendar was approved as follows:

15 December 2018 Saudi Arabia Ad Diriyah* 12 January 2019 Morocco Marrakesh 26 January 2019 Chile Santiago de Chile* 16 February 2019 Mexico Mexico City 10 March 2019 China Hong Kong 23 March 2019 China Sanya* 13 April 2019 Italy Rome 27 April 2019 France Paris 11 May 2019 Monaco Monaco 25 May 2019 Germany Berlin 22 June 2019 Switzerland Bern* 13 July 2019 USA New York 14 July 2019 USA New York

* Subject to circuit homologation

FIA World Rally Championship

The 2019 FIA World Rally Championship calendar is confirmed as follows:

27 January Rally Monte Carlo 17 February Rally Sweden 10 March Rally Mexico 31 March Rally France 28 April Rally Argentina 12 May Rally Chile 2 June Rally Portugal 16 June Rally Italy 4 August Rally Finland 25 August * Rally Germany 15 September Rally Turkey 6 October * Rally Great Britain 27 October * Rally Spain 17 November * Rally Australia

In order to give consistent identity to drivers and assist with promotion, Priority 1 drivers will be free to choose their permanent car number from 2019, except number 1, which will always be reserved for the reigning World Rally Champion.* Date subject to confirmation

As part of an overall cost reduction plan aimed at removing or reducing the cost of elements that do not add to the spectacle of the Championship, the number of test days will be reduced from 55 to 42 for WRC Manufacturer teams. The total distance of special stages has been reduced from a maximum of 500 to a maximum of 350 kilometres.

From 2019, the support championships will be restructured to help increase the number of entrants in Manufacturer Championships, to boost the number of factory supported drivers and cars, and further encourage private competitors to the WRC 2 and Junior WRC Championships. Building on the success of the R5 car, a new WRC 2 Pro Championship for Drivers, Co-Drivers and Manufacturers will be created as a platform for registered R5 manufacturers.

The same specification R5 car will continue to be used in the FIA WRC 2 Championship. This championship will be solely for private entrants, with the intention being to attract more drivers from national and regional championships.

In order to continue supporting the progression of young talent in the sport, the format of the Junior WRC Championship will remain unchanged. The WRC 3 Championship will cease from 2019 although competitors in two-wheel drive cars are still eligible to enter events.

The Championships will therefore be as follows:

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Co-drivers and Manufacturers

FIA WRC 2 Pro Championship for Drivers, Co-drivers and Manufacturers

FIA WRC 2 Championship for Drivers and Co-drivers

FIA Junior WRC Championship for Drivers, Co-drivers and Nations

FIA World Endurance Championship

The 2019-2020 season calendar was approved as follows:

1 September 2019 4 Hours of Silverstone Great Britain 6 October 2019 6 Hours of Fuji Japan 10 November 2019 4 Hours of Shanghai China 14 December 2019 8 Hours of Bahrain Bahrain 1 February 2020 6 Hours of São Paulo Brazil TBC March 2020 1000 Miles of Sebring (8 hours) USA* 2 May 2020 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Belgium 13-14 June 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans France

* Subject to final confirmation

Minor changes to the Sporting Regulations for the 2019-2020 season were approved, including clarifications regarding issues relating to pit lane procedure.

Details of the technical regulations based upon the ‘Hypercar’ concept for 2020-2021 season were approved. An estimation of the required budgets was presented, with a view to allowing both manufacturers and private entries to be competitive within the defined financial framework.

Single-Seater Commission



The Council approved the appointment of Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI) as the promoter of the new single-seater European Regional Championship for 2019 conforming to the technical specification of FIA Formula 3 Regional.

Off-Road Commission

The Council approved the decision to move the introduction of electric cars in the FIA World Rallycross Championship from 2020 to 2021, providing optimal time for at least three manufacturers to develop their plans and on condition that at least three commit to enter by March 2019. In light of the revised timeline, postponement of the planned new tender for the exclusive supply of tyres was approved, along with the decision to extend the existing contract by one additional season.

FIA GT Nations Cup

The Sporting Regulations for the inaugural event were approved by the Council and will be made available on FIA.com

Single suppliers were approved as follows:

Fuel – Panta Distribuzione S.p.A

Tyres – Pirelli

FIA GT World Cup

Single suppliers were approved as follows:

Fuel – Panta Distribuzione S.p.A

Tyres – Pirelli

FIA European Truck Racing Championship

Goodyear Dunlop Tires Operations S.A. was approved as the single supplier for tyres in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship.

FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies

From 2019, Bajas and Cross Country Rallies will be separated into two different Cups to help encourage more competitors to participate and improve accessibility for young drivers. The FIA International Cup for Cross Country Bajas will run alongside the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.

Drifting

Updated Sporting Regulations for the FIA Intercontinental Drifting Cup, which are in line with the most common approach to the scoring process for drifting, were approved. This will result in an increased influence of human judgment, enabling a better understanding of how scores are determined.

The composition of the first Drifting Commission will be announced at the Annual General Assembly in December 2018.

Safety Commission



The Council approved the proposal for the winner of FIA F3 World Cup to be granted five Super Licence points.

Global Institute

The motor sport safety research and development and training activities previously conducted by the Global Institute will now be directly run by the FIA.

E-Motorsport

The Council approved the creation of an E-Motorsport Working Group, Chaired by Deputy President for Sport Graham Stoker, including participants from the Formula 1 Commercial Rights Holder and ASNs in Spain, France, Germany, Turkey, Belgium and the USA.

Women in Motorsport Commission

In association with the Drivers’ Commission, a two-day women drivers assessment programme was hosted at the Circuito de Navarra in Spain in August. As the FIA continues its commitment to increasing the number of women competing in its championships, fifteen drivers who are currently competing in a variety of different categories were invited to participate.

The assessment was designed to achieve a clear overview of the potential of women drivers from different disciplines of international motor sport. With concrete and accurate data, it reconfirmed that there is a pool of female drivers at a high level who are well prepared to progress to major championships and compete alongside their male counterparts.

The Commission will continue its work to create opportunities in the FIA championships, and to facilitate access to the top categories of the sport.

International Series

The following were approved as International Series:

- Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East

- MRF Challenge

- Asian Le Mans Series

- W Series

Next meeting

The next World Motor Sport Council will meet on 5 December in Saint Petersburg, Russia.