The FIA has just revealed a revised calendar for the 2015 Formula One season with the Korean Grand Prix granted a provisional slot bringing the total number of races up to 21.
The Korean Grand Prix was last held in 2013 and has been pencilled in to host the fifth round of next year’s championship in May. Alongside the inclusion of Korea into the calendar, the Chinese Grand Prix will now host the third round of the 2015 F1 championship.
Arguably more important than the calendar changes for next year are the changes to the 2015 sporting regulations. First and foremost, the double points regulation brought into 2014 for the final Grand Prix of the year in Abu Dhabi has been dumped.
Elsewhere, a proposal for standing starts after safety car periods as been dropped while the virtual safety car system trialled after the crash of Jules Bianchi will be introduced next year. The Virtual Safety Car (VSC) system will be implemented in sections when double waved yellow flags are needed but the circumstances do not necessitate the safety car.
Changes have also been made to engine-related penalties. Rather than a power unit change resulting in an automatic penalty, penalties regarding the actual components replaced will be implemented. Another change to the penalties is that a ten-second penalty is now available for stewards alongside the existing five second penalty.
Another key change is that lapped cars will be able to continue to unlap themselves under the safety car but the race can restart before the cars rejoin the back of the pack. Furthermore, the FIA has tweaked how super licenses are issued with the minimum age changed to 18 with a minimum of two years in minor formulas also required.