F1 Everything-But-The-Drivers Roundup: New Points System, New Stewards System, Silverstone’s Return, Renault, and the 2010 F1 Calendar!

It’s official: the FIA World Motorsports Council convened on Friday, 11 December and approved a new points system for F1 that will go into effect from 2010. Follow the jump for more.

Reminiscent of MotoGP, the new system will see drivers through tenth place being awarded points. Those points will be as follows: the winner of each race will get 25 points, and each place after that down to fourth will get, in succession, 5 points less than the driver ahead of him. From fifth place down to tenth, the points will range from 8-6-5-3-2-1.

Also at the same meeting, the World Motorsports Council determined that there will now be three permanent stewards who will attend each race, and they’ll be joined there by a lone local steward—Jean Todt’s very first major act as FIA president, and one which has been sorely needed for years. Additionally, there will now be an F1 Commissioner appointed who will oversee daily operations of the sport, allowing FIA President Todt to concentrate on the big picture instead of mucking about directly in F1’s daily affairs.

Meanwhile, and also just as officially, Silverstone will host the British Grand Prix for the next 17 years. They’ll be undertaking massive renovations projects in order to bring the venue up to F1 standards, of course—starting with the grandstands and paddock area. A new track layout may also be in the works as well.

Elsewhere in Europe, Renault has come to a crucial decision regarding the future of its F1 outfit. Following a season that one might generously term “troubled,” Renault has sold the majority of its F1 outfit at Enstone. They’ll retain a 25% stake in the team, but they’ve now sold it to a mystery buyer who will be announced at the start of next week. Allegedly there were four possible parties, only two of which have as yet been named. The two top contenders for ownership of Renault F1 (no “Team Formerly Known As” needed, as indeed they’ll be keeping the Renault name, despite the sale) are David Richards and Luxembourg-based businessman Gérard Lopez—who, as Girlracer points out, is involved with an agency called Gravity, which manages quite a few drivers and is rumoured to be signing Kamui Kobayashi. The team themselves have been said to understandably favour Richards and his massive F1 and WRC pedigree. However, Bernie Ecclestone was said to favour Lopez—as was Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn. This may mean that Robert Kubica may jump ship, as he’s apparently got a get-out-of-Renault-free card that was only allowed play should the team have been sold. Watch this space for further news on Kubica’s future; he’s rumoured to be in contention for the vacant seat at Mercedes GP, but of course only time will tell.

Finally, last (but certainly not least), the finalized 2010 Formula One calendar has been released. Got your pen? Good, because Canada is on it again, on June 13th! Dates for non-Canadian grands prix will be as follows:

March 14th: Bahrain
March 28th: Australia
April 4th: Malaysia
April 18th: China
May 9th: Spain
May 16th: Monaco
May 30th: Turkey
June 13th: Canada
June 27th: Europe (at Valencia)
July 11th: Great Britain
July 25th: Germany
August 1: Hungary
August 29th: Belgium
September 12th: Italy
September 26th: Singapore
October 10th: Japan
October 24th: Korea
November 7th: Brazil
November 14th: Abu Dhabi

A final note: if you’re wondering where the news on all the drivers is, we’ve stuck that into its own post that will appear shortly. As always, check back with CarEnvy for all the latest F1 news!

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