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Well, if the return of Michael Schumacher, Brawn GP becoming the new Silver Arrows and Felipe Massa in the Ferrari blowing everyone away in Valencia winter testing was not enough of an appetizer for the 2010 racing season, the Formula One Commission has announced some exponentially radical changes which if approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council over the next 48 hours will change the entire dynamics of the sports. Ok, so maybe we tried to oversell a bit, but a return to a hefty margin between first and second in a race is definitely an awesome move, even if we thought 10 vs. 6 was a lot more interesting than 25 vs. 18. Also, the top 10 finishers get to score points...should liven things up for the rest of the field...

In a press release issued by the FIA today, the Formula One Commission has recommended the following:

• A new Points system
• A change in the number and use of tyres
• Q3 rule changes

Points system: In order to further encourage the ‘race to win', an adjustment to the points system was agreed. Points for both titles will be awarded at each event according to the following scale:

1st : 25 points
2nd : 18 points
3rd : 15 points
4th : 12 points
5th : 10 points
6th : 8 points
7th : 6 points
8th : 4 points
9th : 2 points
10th : 1 point

Quantity and use of tyres: The number of dry weather tyres sets allocated per driver has been reduced from 14 to 11. In addition, to encourage teams to run during the Friday practice sessions, one set has to be returned before the start of the second practice session, and two sets before the start of the third practice session.

Improving the show: In order to introduce a further element of strategy, cars having participated in Q3 must start the race on the same set of tyres with which their grid time was set.

New technologies: The Commission received a strong mandate from the FIA President to examine the introduction of new environmental technologies in the Championship.

A decision was also taken to exclude 'double' diffusers from the 2011 season, and to also change the permitted height of the main diffuser was reduced from 175mm to 125mm.