FIA releases 2010 calendar and details of green racing future

The FIA World Motor Sport Council today issued the calendar for next season with some subtle changes on it from the version in circulation recently.

There is also confirmation that F1 and other FIA events will change the basis on which the engine formula is devised to an efficiency based, rather than capacity based system. In F1 this new formula is due in 2013 and KERS, or a version of it, will be at the heart of it.

Monaco moves forward one week, as I flagged up recently - I learned of it from a hotel over a week ago!

Canada is still subject to finalising contract negotiations with FOM, while Abu Dhabi and Brazil may swap dates, with the Brazil race closing out the season.

2010 FIA Formula One World Championship

14/3 Bahrain

28/3 Australia

4/4 Malaysia

18/4 China

9/5 Spain

16/5 Monaco

30/5 Turkey

13/6 Canada**

27/6 Europe (Valencia)

11/7 Great Britain*

25/7 Germany

1/8 Hungary

29/8 Belgium

12/9 Italy

26/9 Singapore

3/10 Japan

17/10 Korea*

31/10† Abu Dhabi*

14/11† Brazil

*Subject to the homologation of the circuit.

**Subject to the completion of contract negotiations with Formula One Management.

†The FIA has approved in principle a proposal to swap the dates of the Abu Dhabi and Brazil grands prix, pending agreement with the promoters of both events.

Also announced today confirmation that the next engine formula for all FIA championships, including F1, is to be based on gaining power from a fixed volume of fuel rather than from the capacity of the engine, as it is at present.

This is clearly a massive change and one that has been in the offing for over a year now. FIA president Max Mosley first started talking about it two years ago.

"Motor sport must move from a power per unit of a combination of one or more of: swept volume/RPM/boost pressure/sonic orifice diameter, as a basis for engine performance regulation, to one of power per unit of energy, " said the FIA statement. "This would automatically put the technical emphasis on energy efficiency, and enable all efficiency technologies to be embraced. This approach, combined with appropriate fuels, will also minimise the emissions of CO2. In

order to enable the public to easily understand this efficiency concept applied to motor sport, it is also necessary to limit the amount of fuel/energy consumed by a competitor during a race. For reasons of the cost of development, technologies may need to be restricted depending on the nature of a given championship/series."

The document also puts energy recovery systems at the heart of the new engine formula and identifies the flywheel, the concept under development at Williams, as the way forward,

"Energy Recovery Systems technology, however, is fundamental to the future of the automobile, including these hybrids. Motor sport can make a useful contribution to development and marketing. Technology such as fly wheels reducing dependence on batteries and concentrating on ICE load shift proves to

be the most promising way forward. "

So perhaps we will see Williams producing a standard KERS system for the whole grid in the same way as McLaren produces the Electronic Control Unit.

Finally each Grand Prix event must be carbon neutral and the FIA proposes offsetting. This will be quite some undertaking if you consider the number of people who fly all over the world in commercial jets to work in F1.