No outcome yet on Abu Dhabi GP saga

PARIS • The International Automobile Federation (FIA) has failed to make any proposals after its inquiry into last season's controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

After a meeting of its commission and its newly elected president Mohammed Ben Sulayem with Formula One teams on Monday, the governing body said it had changed a wet-weather rule that helped Max Verstappen snatch last term's F1 title and had dialled back plans for six sprint qualifiers.

But regarding the final race of last season in Abu Dhabi, the FIA said that there had been "detailed discussions" but no outcome yet.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was poised to capture a record-breaking eighth world title in December before a controversial safety car restart by race director Michael Masi allowed Red Bull's Verstappen to pass on the last lap.

The FIA had said that it would present its findings from its inquiry this month, but it is now likely that results will be out only on March 18 as previously reported.

The BBC reported that many insiders believe Masi's position is "untenable" amid an expected reorganisation of race control.

But Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris have become the latest drivers to throw their support behind Masi, following Sebastian Vettel.

The FIA did address an earlier controversy at the Belgian Grand Prix in August. Verstappen was awarded half the points for a victory, even though the race was cancelled because of heavy rain.

"No points will be awarded unless a minimum of two laps have been completed by the leader without a Safety Car and/or Virtual Safety Car intervention," it said.

The FIA has introduced a progressive points system based on the percentage of distance covered.

If the cars have completed less than 25 per cent of the race, the winner will get six points and the next four cars will collect four, three, two and one points.

If the race was between 25 per cent and 50 per cent complete, "the winner will get 13 points (then 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" and "between 50 per cent and 75 per cent, it will be 19 points (then 14, 12, 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1)".

Sprints were introduced at three races last season and despite talk of six this term, the FIA has capped the number at three: Emilia-Romagna (April 24), Austria (July 10) and Brazil (Nov 13).

Under the sprint format, the classic qualifying is moved from Saturday to Friday. It determines the starting grid for the sprint race of about 100km on Saturday.

The sprints offer championship points and this year, these will be increased to eight for the first place down to one for the eighth place. Last year, only the top three gained bonus points.

The FIA also tweaked the way the grid for the main race on Sunday is decided. Pole position will be awarded to the fastest finisher in Friday qualifying but all the other grid places will be settled by the sprint.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE