The FIA has delayed making any proposals in the wake of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix investigation to enable it to take on board feedback from the teams.
It was expected on Monday to put forward plans for a shake-up of how the race weekend is run in light of Michael Masi’s controversial call in the dying laps of the season, which saw Max Verstappen overtake Lewis Hamilton in the final moments of the race.
Instead, the FIA used the F1 Commission meeting in London during the course of the afternoon to take on board the teams’ final views before putting forward its structural changes later this week.
In a statement, Formula 1’s governing body said: “The FIA president [Ben Sulayem] led detailed discussions of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Feedback from the commission on matters raised will be incorporated into the president’s analysis and he will publicly present news of structural changes and action plan in the coming days.”
The future of FIA race director Masi remains unclear at this stage, with the FIA reportedly keen to bolster the support the race director is given during a grand prix weekend.
The issue has overshadowed both the end of the 2021 season and the build-up to this season’s start in Bahrain next month.
The FIA did, however, confirm that three spring races will take place as part of the new season’s calendar, down from the proposed six.
The sprints, run on the Saturday of race weekend, will see championship points awarded to the top eight drivers, with only the top three having been rewarded last season.
Unlike last year, however, the starting order for Sunday’s main race will be determined by Friday qualifying, rather than the result of the sprint.
The three sprints will take place at the Emilia, Austrian and Brazilian Grands Prix, with Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands dropped from the plan.
