Formula 1 to introduce penalty point system in 2014

Formula 1 will introduce a licence penalty point system to penalise drivers next season.
Drivers who accumulate more than 12 points will be automatically banned from the next race.
This proposal has been under discussion since late last year with a trial points system running unofficially this year to evaluate its effectiveness.
This move has been made to allow stewards to take into account repeat offenders, with Romain Grosjean's one-race ban after triggering a first-corner accident at Spa believed to have been motivated partly by his record of incidents in previous races.
Currently, the only cumulative mechanism available is one of reprimands, with a driver receiving three being hit with a 10-place grid penalty.
It is understood that causing a dangerous collision will be worth three penalty points, with more extreme offences worth as many as five points.
"A penalty point system for drivers will be introduced," said an FIA statement.
"If a driver accumulates more than 12 points he will be banned from the next race.
"Points will stay on the driver's licence for 12 months.
"The amount of points a driver may be given for infringements will vary from one to three depending upon the severity of the offence."
The rules dictating how drivers must hand back any advantage gained from leaving the track will also been tightened up.
This will ensure that situations such as Fernando Alonso having to give Sergio Perez a place under the safety car at Monaco are handled consistently in future.
"The procedure for a driver to be given the chance to give back any advantage he may have gained by leaving the track has been adopted," said the FIA.
OTHER SPORTING REGULATION CHANGES
* Mercedes has been given permission to supply a maximum of four teams with engines next year - Mercedes, McLaren, Williams and Force India.
* All team personnel working on a car in a pitstop during races must now wear head protection.
* An extra set of tyres will be available for every driver during the first 30 minutes of Friday morning practice to increase track time.
* Each driver can only use five engines (which is divided into five individual modules) during the season. Any changes of individual components, such as the turbocharger, motor-generator unit or energy store, will lead to a 10-place grid penalty, with any driver using a complete new power unit having to start from the pits.
* Only one engine can be homologated during the homologation period, which runs from 2014-2020. Changes are permitted for installation, reliability or cost-saving reasons.
* Gearboxes must now be used for six consecutive events, an increase of one on the current rules.
* The pitlane speed limit has been changed to 80km/h for the whole race weekend. Previously, in practice and qualifying the limit was 60km/h with 100km/h the limit for all races except Monaco.
For the full FIA World Motor Sport Council decision, click here

British GP: Lewis Hamilton reprimanded over pit entry move

Lewis Hamilton has been reprimanded for making a late entry to the pitlane during second practice for the British Grand Prix.
Formula 1 drivers had been instructed to keep to the right of a bollard at the pitlane entry if they planned to come into the pits at the Silverstone circuit.
However, Hamilton did not follow that instruction so was called to see the stewards.
A report by the stewards said that Hamilton had only been given a reprimand because he did not risk the safety of other competitors.
"As no other cars were in the vicinity, the offence is not regarded as too dangerous and it did not impede another competitor," said the stewards.
The reprimand is Hamilton's first of the season.
Hamilton was not the only driver to fall foul of the stewards at Silverstone on Friday.
Williams was fined €1000 for Valtteri Bottas speeding in the pitlane in second free practice, while Lotus was reprimanded for an unsafe pitstop release for Kimi Raikkonen.

Sebastian Vettel Q&A - Next team mate not my call

Sebastian Vettel had a slow start to his Silverstone race weekend, not even setting a time in the wet first practice session on Friday. In the afternoon session, the Red Bull driver ended up third quickest, just behind his much-talked about team mate, Mark Webber...
Q: Sebastian, as many suspected, your team mate Mark Webber will retire from Formula One at the end of the season. Have there been discussions about who will be your new team mate? How much influence will you have on that process?
Sebastian Vettel: I have no idea right now – and I do not really expect that the team will involve me in the search. It would be nice, of course, to get asked if you have a good relationship, but bear in mind that we only found out yesterday morning that Mark has decided to stop racing in Formula One, so the situation is rather new for all of us and no route has been defined.
Q: Wouldn’t it be logical now to turn to one of the guys from Toro Rosso as both Jean-Eric (Vergne) and Daniel (Ricciardo) have shown a significant rise in performance? And what about Kimi Raikkonen?
SV: Of course it makes sense to look at the junior team if you have one, but I don’t know if that is mandatory - in any case it is not my call. So yes, it would make sense - but it also makes sense to look around and get the best possible choice for the team. Let’s put it this way: one driver will stay, one has decided to leave, and over the next couple of weeks there will be a decision made to fill up this void! (laughs)
Q: There is a little over half the season to go. Do you expect a change now that Mark has made his decision?
SV: No, why? We will fight for results as we have always done. It will not be easier from now on - nor more difficult. We are professionals and have been the most successful driver pairing over the last few years - and that is what we will try to be for the rest of the season.
Q: If you can imagine ten years on from now - would you have made Mark’s decision if you were in a similar situation?
SV: Ha, how can I even remotely imagine ten years from now? One thing is for sure: we drivers all love racing, but then there will come a point where you will move on, either because you've have enough of F1 or because other challenges come your way.
Q: Kimi Raikkonen again expressed that he is getting along very well with you - is the feeling still mutual?
SV: Yes.
Q: Is that a vote of confidence for him being your new team mate?
SV: As I said: it is not my call to make a decision! We get along very well, we have never had an issue on the track, and should there one day be an issue we will sit down and talk. That is all that can be said right now. But in the end it is not so important who your team mate is: you want to beat them everyone - including your team mate.
Q: Will you miss Mark?
SV: Well, we've all known about his decision for one day so this fact still has to sink in. For several years the team has stayed unchanged so when we've moved on to a new season you knew what to expect and didn’t think about it. But now it will be different - and I wouldn’t use the word ‘afraid’ but ‘unknown’. So let's wait and see what that ‘unknown’ will be. 
Q: Then let's ask the question another way: your relationship with Mark has not been the easiest lately, is there a certain amount of relief to see him leave?
SV: No, I don’t think that way. I have enormous respect for him as a driver - and off track I would say that many things have been hyped more than they should have. If you look at other team parings there are worse ‘couples’ than us. (laughs) There was probably a generation gap, but it was never a situation where you wanted a change at all costs.
Q: Did the Malaysia incident (where Vettel appeared to ignore team orders to overtake Webber) have anything to do with Mark’s decision do you think? What’s your guess?
SV: I don’t think so. If you remember back to Turkey 2010 we also had a different opinion on how things should go, but we had very successful years after that.
Q: Lets go back to this weekend’s racing at Silverstone. What are your expectations for yourself - and what about Ferrari?
SV: Well, I think we have shown that we can be successful on pretty much all tracks. Sure we could have been better in China and Barcelona, but that’s how it went and I think we should be competitive here. Of course Ferrari will, again, be a factor. In the past they’ve always been good here, so why should that change?
Q: Rumour has it that Adrian Newey has designed a new rear suspension that you have on the car - is that so?
SV: We never comment on any specific parts that are new on the car, but yes, we are bringing updates to every race so we also have new bits and pieces here. It is nothing that you see at first glance, but that is how it is this season - everything is more in the detail and less obvious. From what we’ve experienced it was a pretty good day today. At least I felt really comfortable.
Q: How would you judge today’s times?
SV: It’s Friday and the conditions have been far from ideal - what more do I have to say? What counts is that I feel comfortable in the car and that I feel that we still can squeeze more out tomorrow. For the race it will - as always - be important to have good tyre management as this track is rather hard on the tyres.
Q: So what do you expect from the race? It’s been quite a while - since Monza 2011 - that you’ve won a race in Europe...
SV: I don’t think that this statistic is of real relevance for Sunday. We came here to deliver a great race - hopefully one that we win. Silverstone is a track that I like and if the car supports that than it is even better. From what I have experienced today I would say it looks pretty good!

Mercedes newcomer Paddy Lowe says no awkwardness with Ross Brawn

Paddy Lowe says there is no awkwardness between himself and Ross Brawn at Mercedes, even though he has arrived at the squad with long term plans to become its new team principal.
The former McLaren technical director has been lined up as current boss Brawn's eventual successor, but in the interim has joined Mercedes as its executive director (technical).
Although making no secret of the fact that he feels ready to replace Brawn when the time is right, Lowe says he is fully focused on working with him right now.
"When I arrived on the Monday four weeks ago, the first person to greet me and spend an hour with a cup of coffee was Ross," said Lowe at the British Grand Prix on Friday, as he made his first appearance at an F1 race this year.
"He was genuinely delighted to see my arrival and get me stuck into the business. I think that will give you a sign that he is not threatened by my position.
"He is very happy that I joined the company. I am very happy to work with him. I have known and had huge respect for Ross for 20 or more years; although unfortunately normally he has been mostly beating the team I was with!"
Lowe said that no decision had been made yet on when Brawn would move on from his current role, and said he was happy to bide his time and work within the current infrastructure.
"Ross is team principal at the moment," explained Lowe. "We don't know how long he will want to remain team principal. Those plans are not made.
"I have come in to strengthen the team in its existing form, which I can do. There is a great deal to be done and I have already started to augment what we have got.
"What the future brings in terms of progression from there remains to be seen. It is not set or defined at the moment."
When asked if he would feel ready to step up if Brawn decided to move aside as soon as the end of 2013, Lowe said: "I would be fine with that if that is how it turns out.
"I think I have got what it takes to take that on. We have got Toto [Wolff, Mercedes motorsport boss] as well, who is a great asset to the team.
"I actually really enjoy working with Toto. He has a very refreshing attitude. He is very good in the commercial space and he respects my ability in the technical space so we are already working well on that basis."

Matt Morris joins McLaren from Sauber

McLaren has confirmed that former Sauber chief designer Matt Morris is to join the team as its new engineering director.
Morris will be switching to McLaren when he is released from his contract at Sauber, and will work under its technical director Tim Goss.
A McLaren spokesperson said: "Matt Morris will join McLaren Racing as engineering director once his current contractual situation with Sauber is resolved.
"Matt will work for our technical director, Tim Goss, to ensure our engineering standards and technical decision-making capabilities are of the highest quality.
"During a period of intense technical challenge within Formula 1, Matt's appointment is the first step in an ongoing programme to strengthen the engineering department as our organisation prepares for the arrival of Honda in 2015."
McLaren sporting director Sam Michael believes Morris's arrival is a boost to the team's engineering strength.
He expects Morris to have a significant input into the development of the McLaren-Honda partnership, although the 2014 car will also be part of his remit.
"It is good news, especially with the amount of work we have now with all the regulation changes but also with the Honda project," said Michael.
"He will definitely help us add to that engineering strength.
"I'm looking forward to him joining. I worked with him at Williams, where he was head of transmissions, so he will fit in very well with [technical director] Tim [Goss].
Michael was unable to confirm when Morris would be taking up his new post with McLaren.