File photo of last year’s Belgium GP which was just two laps behind the safety car due to torrential rain.
The F1 Commission on Monday voted in favor of changes to Sporting Regulations on how points are awarded should a grand prix not meet its intended race distance.
Talks on the topic have been going on since the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps was cut short due to bad weather.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was declared the winner of the race, running two laps behind the safety car as heavy rain made green-flag racing impossible. Verstappen and the rest of the top 10 were awarded half points.
On Monday, after a meeting in London, the F1 Commission approved a proposed update to Sporting Regulations on how points would be distributed if race distances were not met.
No points will be awarded until at least two laps have been completed by the leader without the intervention of the Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car.
If the leader has completed more than two laps but less than 25 percent of the prescribed race distance, points will be awarded to the top-five finishers as follows: 1st – 6 points, 2nd – 4 points, 3rd – 3 points, 4th – 2. digit, and the 5th – 1 point.
If the leader has completed 25 percent but less than 50 percent of the prescribed race distance, the top-nine will be awarded points as follows: 1st – 13 points, 2nd – 10 points, 3rd – 8 points, 4th – 6 points, 5th – 5 points, 6th – 4 points, 7th – 3 points, 8th – 2 points, and 9th – 1 point.
If the leader completes 50 percent but less than 75 percent of the prescribed race distance, points will be awarded to the top-10 as follows: 1–19 points, 2–14 points, 3–12 points, 4–9 points, 5th – 8 digit, 6th – 6 digit, 7th – 5 digit, 8th – 3 digit, 9th – 2 digit and 10th – 1 digit
Any percentage of race distance above that threshold will see full points awarded to the top 10. As always, all regulatory changes are subject to approval by the World Motor Sport Council.
(ANI report)
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