FOTA reveals F1 blueprint in Geneva

See Home page for full article. Formula one teams have proposed a new points scoring system for the 2009 season and beyond.

The FOTA alliance fronted a media event in Geneva on Thursday, where they laid out their blueprint for the evolution of the sport.

A tweaked points system to be implemented immediately – replacing the current 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 with 12-9-7-5-4-3-2-1 – is one of the major initiatives.

A statement said the plan, an alternative to Bernie Ecclestone's rejected 'medals' proposal, would similarly "give greater reward to grand prix winners".

In 2010, a point may be awarded to the team with the fastest race pitstop.

Another interesting commitment is to publish race fuel loads, tire specifications and refueling data, while next year the teams want to reduce the duration of races from 300km to 250km.

Meanwhile, Force India were not represented at Wednesday's FOTA meeting, but on Thursday the press conference was attended by team co-owner and boss Vijay Mallya.

Honda's Nick Fry represented the team commonly known as Honda, while Renault boss Flavio Briatore played down speculation the French marque is planning to pull out of the sport.

"I have had a commitment from (Renault CEO Carlos) Ghosn that if this more efficient formula one happens, then we stay just until 2012 like everybody," the Italian said.