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Formula 1 races will need to include at least two laps without any safety car period for points to be eligible, following last year’s contentious Belgian Grand Prix.
To the outrage of fans and the disapproval of many drivers a result was declared at Spa, half points were awarded and a podium ceremony was held despite no racing laps being completed.
The three laps behind the safety car – after three hours’ worth of red flags – were deemed to satisfy the regulations that previously only required that many laps of a race to be completed before half points were awarded.
That led to suggestions that enough was staged just to get an official race result to satisfy contracts with the promoter and television broadcasters, which the FIA and F1 refuted at the time.
However, it was promised that the rules would be looked into, and now the F1 Commission has approved proposing several changes that the FIA World Motor Sport Council will rubber stamp next month ahead of the 2022 season opener.
From this season, a minimum of two laps by the leader – without a safety car or virtual safety car intervention – will be required in order for any points to be awarded, which means the 2021 Belgian GP would have zero points awarded if it were held under these new rules.
There will also be a scale for how many points are awarded and to how many cars.
If the leader has completed more than two laps but less than 25% of the scheduled race distance, the top five finishers will be awarded points on a 6-4-3-2-1 scale.
That will change to nine finishers on a 13-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale if 25% but less than 50% has been completed by the race leader.
And if the leader has completed 50% but less than 75% of the scheduled race distance, points will be awarded to 10 drivers on a 19-14-12-9-8-6-5-3-2-1 scale.
Lewis Hamilton was among those to call for a full refund after the 2021 Spa farce but this did not materialise, nor did a discount for 2022 tickets.
Instead, Sunday ticket holders can enter into a prize draw for 170 tickets for the 2022 race: 100 silver grandstand seats for bronze ticket holders last year, 50 gold grandstand seats for silver ticket holders last year, and 20 VIP seats for gold ticket holders last year.
They were also offered a free personal invitation to an exclusive event on Thursday at Spa this year, subject to the COVID-19 pandemic, and one F1TV pass per ticket holder.
