Fia Reverses Race Absence Decision

World motorsport governing body the FIA has reversed its decision on the participation of teams in the new season, saying that teams will breach regulations if they fail to take part in a race.

With newcomers US F1 and Campos yet to complete their driver lineups or test, FIA president Jean Todt had initially been quoted as saying that teams struggling to get their cars ready for the new season are allowed to miss three races according to the Concorde Agreement, which governs the sport.

But the FIA has now released a statement saying: ‘each Team that has registered for the Championship is obliged to take part in every event of the season. Any failure to take part, even for just one Championship event, would constitute an infringement both of the Concorde Agreement and the FIA Regulations.’

Campos and US F1will now face a race against time to prepare their cars for the season-opening race in Bahrain on 14th March.

The FIA has yet to reveal whether any sanctions would follow if a team missed a race.