In a meeting at Paris today, the FIA and representatives from all of Formula 1's 11 teams agreed on several key points regarding the sport's future for next season and beyond.
Chief among those were the number of 18 races confirmed for '07 and, pending approval by the World Motor Sport Council, the freeze on engine development coming into force already for next year, instead of 2008 as originally proposed. According to a statement released by the FIA today, engine specs will be homologated at the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix, "subject to retuning for a maximum of 19,000 rpm."
In addition, the governing body and the squads agreed on the FIA preparing draft regulations for the recovery and reuse of energy (hybrid systems) for introduction in '09, the manufacturers to prepare draft regulations for devices to use waste heat and exhaust gases to assist the engines in propelling the cars, and the establishment of a working group to discuss means to restrict the use of wind tunnels, simulators (test rigs), simulations and where appropriate, the numbers of personnel.
Finally, the 2008 regulation restricting testing to 30,000 km per team should apply already in '07 by voluntary agreement of the teams, and the introduction of new aero regulations - including the controversial "split" CDG rear wing - has been postponed from '08 to '09.
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