FIA confirms 19 race schedule for 2013

08/03/2013

Meeting in Geneva, the FIA's World Motor Sport Council has agreed a number of decisions relating to Formula One, including the fact that the 2013 season will comprise 19 races.

In the previous version of the calendar a slot had been retained for what many thought might be the return of the Turkish Grand Prix, a substitute for the New Jersey race which has been rescheduled for 2014. With the Turkish organisers unable to obtain the necessary funding another of other possible hosts were mooted but eventually these too proved impossible.

While the WMSC noted that the negotiations over the Concorde Agreement are proceeding positively in order to be concluded in the near future, it also confirmed the composition of the Drivers' Commission. Under the Presidency of Emerson Fittipaldi, the rights and interests of drivers across the disciplines will be represented by a number of members including Sebastien Loeb, Nigel Mansell, Karun Chandhok and Maria de Villota.

The principle of creating a new single-seater class, named FIA Formula 4, was also accepted by the WMSC for 2014 and beyond. This class, which is aimed at providing ASNs with a standard technical and sporting framework for national Formula 4 championships, will help rationalise the path young drivers should follow from karting through to Formula One. Technical regulations and a sporting framework were also agreed.