The event was staged in the Kingdom of Bahrain and hosted by his Royal Highness Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa and organised by Sheikh Abdulla Bin Isa Al Khalifa, the President of the Bahrain Motor Federation.

The following is a summary of the decisions taken during the meeting:

FIA Formula One World Championship 

Findings of the analysis of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix presented to the World Motor Sport Council

A report was presented to the World Council in relation to the detailed analysis and clarification exercise that has been conducted in response to the events that took place at the 2021 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The purpose of the detailed analysis and clarification exercise was to identify any lessons that can be learned from the events that took place and consider how best to provide clarity regarding the Formula 1 rules and regulations in order to preserve the competitive nature of the sport while ensuring the safety of both drivers and officials.

As part of the exercise, the Formula 1 Sporting Advisory Committee was instructed to consider the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations and key stakeholders were interviewed and consulted, including the Teams and Drivers, the Race Direction team, and the FIA staff supporting the race management team. The report sets out the findings, conclusions and recommendations arising from the detailed analysis and clarification exercise.

The report focused solely on the facts surrounding these events, and determined the following key points:

• The safety car procedure was a central topic of discussion during the detailed analysis and clarification exercise, stemming from the application of this procedure at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, pursuant to Articles 48.12 and 48.13 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations. 
• The Race Director called the safety car back into the pit lane without it having completed an additional lap as required by the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations (Article 48.12).
• It was apparent from the analysis that there could be different interpretations of Article 48.12 and Article 48.13 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations, and that this likely contributed to the applied procedure.
• It was also considered that the decisions regarding the Safety Car at the end of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix likely took into account previous discussions that made clear the Formula 1 Stakeholders (FIA, Formula 1, Teams and Drivers) preference to end races under green flag racing conditions, rather than behind a safety car, when safe to do so.
• In combination with the objective to finish under green flag racing conditions applied throughout the 2021 season, the report finds that the Race Director was acting in good faith and to the best of his knowledge given the difficult circumstances, particularly acknowledging the significant time constraints for decisions to be made and the immense pressure being applied by the teams. 
• The results of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the FIA Formula One World Championship are valid, final and cannot now be changed. In accordance with the rules, Mercedes made a protest to the stewards after the race, seeking to change the race classification. The stewards dismissed the protest and Mercedes then had an opportunity to appeal that decision to the FIA International Court of Appeal, but did not do so. There are no other available mechanisms in the rules for amending the race classification.
• The process of identifying lapped cars has up until now been a manual one and human error lead to the fact that not all cars were allowed to un-lap themselves. Due to the fact that manual interventions generally carry a higher risk of human error, software has been developed that will, from now on, automate the communication of the list of cars that must un-lap themselves. In addition, the 2022 Formula 1 Sporting Regulations have been recently updated to clarify that “all” and not “any” cars must be permitted to un-lap themselves.
• This process of identifying lapped cars has been reviewed as part of the recommendations previously announced by the FIA President in his statement of 17 February 2022, which also includes the creation of FIA Remote Operations Centre, the integration of a new and extended team to run trackside operations as well as a review of the interactions between teams and Race Control during track running.

The WMSC unanimously endorsed the contents of this report and the FIA will continue in its work to implement the recommendations identified as soon as possible.

Click here to view an Executive Summary of the Report.

Update on the implementation of Remote Operations Centre

The first phase of the Remote Operations Centre (ROC) – previously referred to as Virtual Race Control – is now online at the FIA Headquarters in Geneva. The Remote Operations Centre functions in the following capacity:

• Procedural and regulatory matters may be referred to the ROC, which operates in an advisory capacity and will not interrupt the workflow of the Race Direction team onsite or cause any delay to the decision-making process
• While similar in principle to the ‘VAR’ in football, the ROC will act as a supporting resource for the Race Direction team with data comparable to that of more than ten simultaneous football matches, including over 140 video and audio sources
• The ROC provides an additional resource for the FIA to thoroughly replay and review aspects of the Competition and the decisions made in order to refine and improve procedures for the future. It does not have any regulatory power and cannot be used to reassess or alter past decisions.

As the Remote Operations Centre is developed, it will become a valuable training and educational resource for of the next generation of Race Control staff and Stewards. Its benefits will later extend to other FIA Championships and the wider international community of FIA National Sporting Authorities (ASNs).

The following is a summary of some of the key updates to the Sporting and Technical Regulations, approved by the World Council earlier this week via e-vote:

• An update to the Sporting Regulation referring to the un-lapping procedures under Safety Car conditions to ensure that all lapped cars are permitted to un-lap themselves
• An update to the Technical Regulations permitting the use of a single floor stay on each side of the car
• An increase of the minimum mass by 3kg to 798kg

The updated 2022 Formula 1 calendar was confirmed as follows:

 
FIA World Rally Championship 

Following the introduction of the new Rally1 hybrid cars at the top level of the discipline, the first of a series of proposals have been approved with the aim to adjust the sporting regulations on the basis of the findings and assessments made at the Monte-Carlo and Sweden rounds. 

In order to permit WRC crews to identify, in the event of a hybrid issue, the Hybrid Electric Vehicle refuge points on special stages where assistance is available, a bespoke sign with the black HEV letter on blue background has been created and can be found under Appendix I. 

The allocation of an additional day of testing for the 2022 season has been granted, following consultation between the FIA and the manufacturers based on the initial development cycles of the Rally1 car. 

The penalty for re-start after retirement as a result of a safety issue to the Rally1 hybrid unit operating within the defined tolerances permitted has been set to 2 minutes for every stage missed, instead of the normal 10-minute penalty. 

FIA World Endurance Championship 

In order to ensure the seamless introduction of cars built to LMDh technical regulations in 2023, the council has approved those cars in the Hypercar class of this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship on a race-by-race basis, meaning they won’t be eligible to score points in 2022. 

The council has also approved the introduction of the next generation of LMP2 cars in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season. This is in order to allow enough time for a thorough revision of technical conditions, ensure cost control targets are reached, and allow for a stable transition from the current generation of LMP2 cars. 

ABB FIA Formula E World Championship  

As part of the continuous process of fine-tuning, the Season 8 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship (2021-2022) Sporting Regulations have been slightly updated. In particular, from now on, all neutralization time (Safety Car or Full Course Yellow Periods) occurring before minute 40 of the race will be counted for the “Extra Time” calculation.

FIA World Rallycross Championship

The updated 2022 FIA World Rallycross Championship calendar was confirmed as follows:

DH – Double Header
¹ Subject to promoter agreement

Launch Event: 2-3 July, Höljes (Sweden)

FIA Single-Seater Commission

Formula 2 Championship 

The updated 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship calendar was approved as follows: 

 
FIA Formula 3 World Cup 

The date for the 2022 FIA Formula 3 World Cup held in Macau is confirmed as 17-20 November. 

Formula 4 

Updates to the Formula 4 Sporting and Technical Regulations for the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games were approved. 

FIA Rally Commission 

Jarmo Mahonen, President of Finland's ASN AKK Motorsport, was confirmed as President of the FIA Rally Commission.

Changes to the following Regional Rally Championship calendars were approved by the Council today and via an e-vote on February 25: 

FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship – Asia Cup 
  

FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship – Pacific Cup 

 
FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship – Final 

 
FIA NACAM Rally Championship 

 
FIA European Rally Trophy – Alps Rally Trophy 

 
FIA European Rally Trophy – Balkan Rally Trophy 

 
FIA European Rally Trophy – Celtic Rally Trophy 

 
FIA European Rally Trophy – Central Rally Trophy 

 
FIA European Rally Trophy – Iberian Rally Trophy 

* Subject to ASN’s confirmation

FIA Touring Car Commission 

The 2022 WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) calendar has been amended. The season-opening event set to take place at Autodrom Most, Czech Republic, from 9–10 April has been cancelled. Additionally, the council rubber-stamped the cancellation of WTCR Race of Russia, originally scheduled for August, following the previous announcement from the promoter that the event could not go ahead. 

The season will now start at France’s Circuit de Pau-Ville. The promoter of the series, Discovery Sports Events, is evaluating possible replacement events. 

2022 FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) calendar 

 
FIA Cross-Country Rally Commission  

In the Cross-Country Rally sporting regulations, conditions for overtaking using the vehicle-to-vehicle communication system have been clarified with the aim to improve safety. As a result, a competitor caught by another and who would not facilitate the overtaking within 60 seconds of the third request is now subject to penalties. 

A number of amendments related to the safety equipment have been made in the technical regulations, including the postponement of the new 8855-2021 and 8862-2009 seat requirements, due to become compulsory from 2023 for Group T1 and 2024 for the other groups. This was decided following a request of the Technical Working Group to ensure more favourable conditions for teams and competitors to install the new seats. 

FIA Off-Road Commission

FIA RX2e Championship 

¹ Subject to promoter agreement
 
FIA European Rallycross Championship (RX1)

¹ Subject to promoter agreement        
 
FIA European Rallycross Championship (RX3)

¹ Subject to promoter agreement
 
FIA European Autocross Championship 

 
FIA European Cross Car Championship

 
FIA Cross Car Academy Trophy 

*Subject to ASN’s confirmation
** Subject to circuit homologation

FIA Karting Commission (CIK)

The creation of a dedicated category in the 2022 FIA Karting World Championship – KZ in Le Mans, France (September 1-4) for drivers of 35 years and above to compete with KZ2 Homologated equipment was agreed. It will be known as the FIA Karting Masters’ Super Cup – KZ2.

It was further agreed to limit the numbers of entries for the first year to 36, and to raise the minimum race weight to 180 kg (vs 175 kg for KZ2).

FIA Drifting Commission

The council approved the cancellation of the 2022 FIA Intercontinental Drifting Cup, set to be held at Sochi Autodrom this June, following the earlier announcement that the event will not take place as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

FIA Land Speed Records Commission 

The general conditions for the measurement of the course as described in Appendix D have been amended to provide clarification and enable cost reduction by allowing the use of a commercially available high-precision wheel-type measurement device, rather than many discreet measurement survey points.