JULY 5, 2006

Doing things backwards

Tomorrow in Paris the FIA Formula 1 Commission will meet to discuss matters of the moment in Formula 1. Traditionally the F1 Commission meets in the days before a World Council so that its decisions can be then be ratified by the more senior body, but on this occasion the World Council has already met and so any decisions made by the F1 Commission will have to ratified either by fax - which cuts down on discussions - or at the next meeting of the WMSC that will probably take place in the autumn.

This is a rather odd way of doing business given that the people involved in these two bodies are all in Paris this week and it would be logical to do things in the usual order. An FIA spokesman was unable to throw any light on the scheduling.

The F1 Commission will discuss the engine rules for 2007, the question of superlicences following the Yuji Ide case, the venue of the Japanese Grand Prix, the definition of what is a constructor, notably in the case of Super Aguri, plus aspects of the Concorde Agreement and the demands that are placed on race promoters by the FIA, notably in relation to the medical and media facilities at race tracks.