From 2009 onwards, the most wins will determine which driver wins the championship. The FIA has decided against changing the points system from 1-2-3-4-5-6-8-10 to 1-2-3-4-5-6-9-12 (which was proposed by the F1 Team’s association). Instead, the points will only come into play if there’s a tie between the drivers with the most wins. In this case, the system will revert to how it worked previously, i.e. the most points will decide the championship.

These changes will only apply to the first place in the driver’s championship. The consecutive places and the constructors’ championship will still be decided by the points system. The decision has been extremely controversial. Had this system been in place in 2008 Lewis Hamilton will not have been world champion, the title going to Felipe Massa.

The other major announcement made by the FIA is that teams will have the option of having their budgets capped, in exchange for technical freedom. This will make things very, very interesting. The cap imposed will be $30million for all expenses per season, which is a fraction of what teams currently spend. This figure includes all salaries paid to the team and drivers, engine development and chassis development. It virtually only excludes the team’s motor homes.

What all of this means, is that some teams will consider competing under the current very strict regulations, but having more money to spend on making small improvements, while some teams will rather go for the budget cap and try to make a drastic improvement to their cars. No doubt it will make the 2010 season even more interesting than the 2009 season is shaping up to be.