DOHA // The double-points system has been scrapped, but Abu Dhabi will retain the final-round spot in a provisional schedule for 2015, world governing body FIA said on Wednesday.
South Korea has been reinstated on a record 21-race calendar next season as the fifth stop on the tour, on May 3, with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona scheduled for the following weekend. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will run on November 29, if the decision is ratified.
The tight turnaround, and teams’ previous reluctance to have more than 20 races, immediately raised doubts about the likelihood of the Korean race happening, however. The season will start in Australia on March 15. Mexico will return after a 23-year absence, with a race scheduled for November 1 in Mexico City.
Meanwhile, the FIA said French driver Jules Bianchi did not heed caution flags before crashing at the Japanese Grand Prix. “Bianchi did not slow sufficiently to avoid losing control at the same point on the track as [Adrian] Sutil,” the FIA report said.
The Marussia driver, whose British-based team is no longer in business, remains unconscious and in critical condition with a severe head injury. FIA said his car hit a safety crane at 126kph and that medical services were not at fault.
In October, Marussia said they were “shocked and angered” by media reports suggesting that Bianchi had not sufficiently slowed down under caution flags.
Follow our sports coverage on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
