The FIA has agreed to change the points system around young drivers qualifying for the superlicence they need to race in Formula One.
After 17-year-old Max Verstappen joined the grid this season with one year's single-seater experience, motorsport's governing body imposed a minimum age (18) to race in F1 from 2016 and the requirement drivers score enough qualifying points in junior categories before receiving the licence.
The original weighting of points was controversial, however, with a "future F2 championship" ranked higher than another series, while Formula Renault 3.5 was less valuable than F3 and GP3. Many junior series' complained at either the points they were allocated or not being included on the original list at all and the FIA sought to rectify those issues at Friday's meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Mexico City.
As well as enlarging the criteria to include DTM and World Touring Car Championship, the FIA will give increasing flexibility for those who have qualified for a superlicence but "do not have the opportunity to race in Formula One". This includes test drivers such as Pascal Wehrlein and Susie Wolff who risked losing their licences because they have not raced in the sport yet.
The revised system sees the future FIA F2 championship, GP2, FIA F4, World Endurance Championship (LMP1) and Indy Car all given equal weighting (40 points for the champion). Next up is Formula Renault 3.5, followed by GP3 Series and Japanese Super Formula. WTCC, DTM and Indy Lights all hold equal weighting with 15 points for the winner, followed by national Formula 4 and F3 championships, Formula Renault (EuroCup, ALPS or NEC) and CIK-FIA World Championships.
Points are scaled down from the winner to the driver who finishes tenth in every series. The winner of the Formula E championship will automatically be granted a superlicence, though the series itself is not part of the points system.
The WMSC also confirmed other proposals put forward by this month's meeting of the Strategy Group. New manufacturers entering the sport will receive a fifth power unit for their first season and that will be retrospectively applied to Honda this year, effectively giving McLaren's drivers a free engine change each.
A change in power unit penalties has also been confirmed, with in-race penalties scrapped and the maximum demotion for moving beyond a fourth component being relegation to the back of the grid. The current penalty system came under scrutiny in Canada and Austria when drivers were sent to the back of the grid and still had drive-through penalties to serve in the opening laps of the race.