Formula One F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China - April 21, 2024 Red Bull's Max Verstappen crosses the line to win the Chinese Grand Prix Pool via REUTERS/Andres Martinez Casares/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - Formula One on Thursday deferred to July a decision on whether to change the scoring system and hand out points to the first 12 finishers instead of the top 10.
The Formula One Commission which includes the 10 teams, governing FIA and commercial rights holder made the announcement after a meeting virtually and in Geneva.
"Commission members discussed a proposal for changes to the distribution of championship points, as described in articles 6.4 and 6.5 of the sporting regulations," the FIA said in a statement.
"It was agreed that further analysis of proposed changes was required with a view to a proposal to be presented to the F1 Commission meeting in July."
Six of the teams need to vote in favour of a move backed by smaller outfits for the change to happen for 2025. Some of the bigger ones have indicated they will not block the proposal.
"It feels like there are two groups in Formula One at the moment. The teams from 6-10 are in as hard a fight as 1-5," Red Bull boss Christian Horner told reporters at last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.
"It’s one of those things where you’ve just got to run the numbers and look at the analytics to say what would it actually change? I’m impartial to it unless of course you’re paying points money."
After five races this season, three teams have yet to score while Red Bull-owned RB have managed only seven points and Haas five. The top half are in a league of their own, with Red Bull on 195 and fifth-placed Aston Martin on 40.
The commission agreed on introducing rear-facing cameras to cars from the Spanish Grand Prix in June, providing fresh angles for the television coverage, and made a number of minor changes to the sporting and financial regulations.
It was agreed that Formula One Management would present the commission with proposed dates and venues for next year's pre-season testing.
The 2025 championship will start in Australia instead of Bahrain, which hosted this year's pre-season test, due to Ramadan.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
