FORMULA ONE: This year's Formula One title will go to the driver who wins the most races rather than the most points, the sport's governing body confirmed today. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won last year's title despite winning fewer races than Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that its world motor sport council had rejected a proposal by the teams to change the scoring system to reward race winners.
Instead the council has accepted a proposal from Formula One Management to award the drivers' championship to the driver who has won the most races during the season.
"If two or more drivers finish the season with the same number of wins, the title will be awarded to the driver with the most points," the FIA said.
The allocation of points will remain the same as last year's 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 sequence.
The rest of the standings, from second to last place, will also be decided by the current points system with the constructors' championship unaffected.
The FIA ruled out awarding Olympic-style medals, as advocated by Formula One's commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone who had wanted the title to go to the driver with the most golds.
The FIA has also agreed to introduce a voluntary budget cap from 2010 of €32.3million per two-car team as the sport seeks ways to further tighten its belt.
The aim is to make it easier for new teams to enter F1, as well as allow existing teams to participate on much reduced budgets should they so choose.
In essence, from next season teams will have a choice between the current freedom to spend, but be forced to adhere to the existing technical constraints, or enjoy a new degree of freedom to innovate technically, but with a severely-restricted budget.