Other than slapping itself - and F1 boss, Stefano Domenicali - on the back for a job well done, today's meeting of the FIA's World Motor Sport Council revealed very little, and nothing in terms of the biggest scandal facing the sport.

Indeed, as the world waits on news of Red Bull's breach of the budget cap rules, what it got was essentially tumbleweed.

A series of safety improvements were made to the Formula 1 regulations, including an increase in the size of mirrors for better "blind-spot" visibility and improvement of brake circuit definition.

Further improvements were also made to the regulations on roll hoops which were strengthened following an FIA investigation into the accident involving Guanyu Zhou at the British Grand Prix.

Also, in the 2022 Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, the procedure to determine grid positions after multiple penalties have been applied was clarified.

However, in terms of the budget cap, according to the FIA, "the WMSC was updated in connection with the ongoing discussions with teams following the end of the first-ever review under the FIA F1 Financial Regulations".

The WMSC convened at the Royal Automobile Club in London for the third meeting of 2022 and was hosted by president Mohammed Ben Sulayem with FIA deputy president for sport, Robert Reid and WMSC members joining in person and via video conference.

"During the Summer, the FIA World Motor Sport Council approved the Formula 1 Power Unit Regulations for 2026," said ben Sulayem. "These regulations are the result of extensive research and development by the FIA and consultation with incumbent and potential new PU manufacturers. The FIA continues to push forward on innovation and sustainability across our entire motor sport portfolio. The 2026 Formula 1 PU Regulations are the most high-profile example of that mission.

"At Spa-Francorchamps in August, Audi announced it was joining the FIA Formula One World Championship from 2026 as a power unit manufacturer. This announcement was an endorsement of the hard work by all stakeholders to develop those Regulations. We also note that Porsche are still in discussions with Formula 1 teams.

"Latterly, the WMSC members approved the 2023 F1 calendar with 24 races - further evidence of the growth and appeal of the sport. As part of the 2023 calendar, six race weekends featuring Sprint sessions were confirmed. Thanks to collaboration with Stefano Domenicali and our colleagues at FOM, the FIA concluded a thorough analysis on the impact of additional Sprint sessions and have adjusted our workflow to ensure Sprints will be regulated at the highest level."

Meanwhile, no word on the budget breach, and while ben Sulayem and Domenicali look forward to 2023 and the Sprint, there remains the little matter of what punishment Red Bull might expect and whether the result of the 2021 (and 2022) championship still stands.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 21/10/2022 13:33

"@ Meatball...It's about time that those who wish to pollute F1 with their political activism are shown the exit quick smart. There are many and varied avenues for them to be vocal about their perceived aggrieved sensibilities rather than these forums. Fortunately Liberty have cancelled their obviously blatant obeisance to the woke brigade with their cringworthy grid procedures. Hopefully it will stay that way in the future. "

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2. Posted by Spindoctor, 21/10/2022 12:53

"@meatball
Hard not to sympathise with your strictures regarding F1's propensity simply to "follow the money" without any consideration for other much more important issues.
Unfortunately, "Sport" in general & F1 in particular have long tended to ignore difficult moral, political & Human Rights issues. Historically the Olympics were held in Nazi Germany and today the World Cup is being held in Qatar in stadiums built by indentured labour with little concern for Health & Safety."

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3. Posted by kenji, 21/10/2022 2:07

"@ Pavlo...thanks for the response. IMO you have made a few errors there. Firstly in categorising F1. F1 is a business masquerading as a sport...look no furtherthat the rejection of Andretti Global. Secondly, the rules most definitely must not be set by the competitors/fans but by the body vested with running the entire show as has happened since year one.That decision, should, eliminate the individual powers that major teams have over minor teams...supposedly! As for the 'mole' , well any dissemination of confidential team data should be seriously investigated. Industrial espionage, which this breach would fall under, is treated as an illegality and so it should be. Look no further that the McLaren breach in regards to Ron Dennis/Ferrari.

Yes, there should've been defined penalties linked to the agreed and accepted levels of breach in the original rules governing the cost cap but the question was what and to which degree attraced what penalty. IF it needs to be changed then that is an entirely a different matter. It's too late now now to cry over spilt milk.....as they used to say a very long time ago!!! The latest claim by Zak Brown is quite possibly linked to the relationship between client and supplier of PU's with Mercedes being the most vocal of all. If they can change the result of the '21 championship by RB exclusion, unlikely, they would both benefit substantially by way of recompense to their respective businesses. "

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4. Posted by Pavlo, 20/10/2022 22:35

"@ kenji - the "mole" is not a problem, don't forget it's a sport, not corporate business. The rules must be transparent and controllable by the competitors AND by the spectators. Trying to regulate something leaving it confidential will just kill the sport, who is going to watch how the "head judge" announced that Nicolas Latifi "is a WDC 2023 for the reasons he cannot disclose".

And yes, FIA did awfully bad job 2 years ago. "Minor"/"major" are absolutely meaningless if not mapped to the penalties. As well as any rule is meaningless if penalty is not clear.
Now we can speculate about the penalties for "minor" crossing of the white line on the pit entry (compared to "major"?), minor 5% time difference on the lap which is more than the difference between WDC and the last place, "minor" portion of the millimeter on a rear wing or "minor" gram missing in a fuel sample.

In ideal world FIA would have no other choice than DQ both RB and AM - if the rule has no penalty described, rule must be treated as "just can't be breached at any cost". In a real world it's better - as other teams were involved in agreeing the cap, they share the responsibility for not defining a penalty. But on the other hand it also means that they have the right to be involved in defining this penalty, and this is exactly what they are doing now.
I said many times, in the interest of the sport the FIA should define the rules without listening to the competitors, and then let those who want play by the rules. Like soccer - who cares what Barcelona thinks about offside rule, you either obey or can go find another business."

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5. Posted by meatball, 20/10/2022 15:59

"the "Biggest Scandal" facing the sport is an accounting problem of less than 5%? Not the clear propensity for allowing races to continue in countries run by dictators and despots? Not first addressing blatant basic human rights violations of a hosting nation BEFORE showing up with the biggest media circus on the planet? How about addressing how Money talks and seems to blind the likes of Stefano from actually caring where the source of said money is?

Utter hogwash to suggest that Redbull allegedly blowing the budget cap in the most wasteful sport on the planet being a "Scandal".

How about actually doing something REAL about the sports carbon footprint? or just admit that they are carbon intense and move on? they zig zag the globe in private jets with a train of jets behind them carrying race teams and hospitality tents to schmooze said Despots. Anything other than a mirror to distract them from their own sins is music to the FIA's ears."

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6. Posted by Spindoctor, 20/10/2022 14:21

"@Lapps - quite so. The "problem" with all this is that when formulating this fiasco, FIA wanted to leave itself plenty of wiggle room. I expect they also thought that Teams with the odd $140m to spend might employ Accounts sufficiently competent to avoid any breaches.

However, the unexpected\unthinkable has happened. By encouraging ambiguity (wiggle room again) & not having a simple menu of breaches\punishments they have invited every armchair pundit, passing wino & Team Principle to decide things for themselves. My own scheme is below & I commend it to FIA to simplify matters in future.

$2m - 10m overspend - docked 20 constructor points budget cap reduced by 2X overspend for next season
$10+ overspend public execution of Team principle (should please Saudis) + exclusion for 20 years..

It may seem a bit harsh, but it would make things clear....."

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7. Posted by kenji, 20/10/2022 11:21

"@ Lapps...the rules governing the categorisation of Cost Cap breaches were released in May2020...almost two and a half years ago and it is only now that they [Mercedes/Ferrari/McLaren etc are whining like a bunch of kiddies who've dropped their ice creams in the sand!! I'll just wait for the details, if they are released, then take a long hard clinical look and then form an opinion. "

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8. Posted by Lapps, 20/10/2022 8:12

"The FIA’s blunder regarding the Cost Cap was made back when the Cap was announced/decided. At that time a scale of Penalties should also have been decided and published. Now the FIA finds itself in a situation where a slap-on-the-wrist will lead to a revolt by Merc Ferrari et al and a more severe penalty will spark a revolt by RB and AT. Currently they are just kicking the can down the road and either hoping the problem goes away, or that some form of Devine Inspiration occurs. Neither seems likely! I can only suggest that we get out the popcorn!"

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9. Posted by Defiant, 20/10/2022 4:13

"I'm expecting nothing more than a repeat of the 2019 whitewash. "

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10. Posted by kenji, 20/10/2022 2:02

"Why the rush to judgement if the breach was only 'minor'. Firstly the amount of the breach is, ATM, unpublished. Secondly, the team needs to thrash out their respective position if the matter proceeds to further legal adjudication. Thrirdly the FIA would appear to be trying to assert their authority and not be seen to be merely a puppet having their strings pulled by the likes of Wolff, Brown, et al. Their collective noise is nothing more than competetive chatter. Nothing strange about that. What is equally important is the identification of the 'mole' and a public unmasking. When the most sensitive details of any team's financial structures are able to be leaked RB are quite correct in demanding an exposure. "

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11. Posted by trackrecords, 19/10/2022 23:21

"You would have thought that slapping them on the back would clear the blockage that evidently is preventing the announcement being made?"

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12. Posted by Max Noble, 19/10/2022 23:19

"I can already imagine it… “The FIA, and Red Bull have concluded discussions, and no further public statements will be made. We look forward to sharing spreadsheets and ERP reports in 2023.” It’s going to be the non-announcement of the century…"

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13. Posted by KKK, 19/10/2022 22:04

"Talk about bringing the sport into disrepute. Not shooting itself in the foot, more like slashing your throat. Medi Liberty should be stripped from running F1."

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