Regulations and Enforcement

FIA Homologation Regulations Commission  

On behalf of the Commission, the FIA Technical Department homologated two new vehicles, both in the GT3 category.  

In all, there were 139 Homologation Extensions (of all types), including 34 Errata (ER), 30 Jokers for Rally (ERJ), 33 Supply-Variants (VF), 36 Option-Variants (VO), 4 Evolutions of Type (ET), 1 Complimentary Evolution, 1 GT Evolution (EVO), and 1 Rally3 Variant (VRa3).  

Regulations 

In 2023, the Commission reviewed, developed and presented a series of amendments and clarifications to Annex J of the ISC and the Homologation Regulations. 

The changes to Annex J included updates to: 

• Rules around the use of sustainable fuels in Group N and R-GT cars, as well as a number of safety updates for the same vehicles 
• Changes to the classification and definition of Cross Country vehicles and changes to the safety equipment requirement and general prescriptions for such vehicles 

The Commission also updated homologation regulations around out-of-session process for Group A rally cars and the use of safety cages. They decided to no longer homologate Group T2 cars, and introduced new Homologation Regulations for Touring cars and large scale production cars fitted with an electric powertrain.  

The Commission also updated the Technical Lists with two extensions approved for the list of catalytic converters approved by ASNs and two additions to the list of companies able to provide FIA-approved safety cages – Brodex SAS and Ycom.  

More broadly, in order to address the Presidential manifesto target of doubling motor sport participation worldwide, the Commission focused on simplifying the homologation process, through the establishment of the ASN-certified Safety Cage database. This database displays all 965 cages homologated by ASNs and the Technical Centre at Valleiry. 

FIA Governance, Integrity and Regulatory Affairs  

In 2023, the FIA Legal Office actively contributed to a wide range of regulatory and governance related activities. 

In the FIA Formula One World Championship, the department helped to develop a new team application process. It also worked on the Championships’ Financial Regulations, including the drafting of clarifications, the development of the compliance framework, the Cost Cap Adjudication Panel referral process, and reviews of Cost Cap Guidance documentation. 

The Legal Office was also closely involved with the development of the 2026 Formula 1 Power Unit (PU) Regulations. It also acted in an advisory capacity to the Championship’s Remote Operations Centre (ROC). 

In the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, the Legal Office worked on defining the Manufacturers Registration for Gen 4 and the development of the compliance framework for the Formula E Financial Regulations.  

Statutes Review Commission 

The Statutes Review Commission was relaunched in June 2023. It proposed the following amendments to the FIA Statutes and Internal Regulations, which were adopted at the FIA General Assemblies in Baku (Azerbaijan) in December 2023: 

• Introduction of a specific age limit for members of the Presidential team 
• Review of the composition and election criteria of the Ethics Committee 
• Introduction of the reference to EuroCouncil in the FIA Statutes 
• Alignment of the FIA Statutes with the Judicial and Disciplinary Rules regarding the election of the President and Vice-President of the Congress of the International Tribunal and International Court of Appeal 
• Change of positioning of the Compliance Officer  
• Clarifications regarding the transition of FIA Members from Full to Associate membership  
• Extension of the grounds for the suspension of FIA Members  

International Sporting Code  

The Legal Office worked on a number of amendments to the International Sporting Code (adopted December 2023). These included, amongst others: 

• The introduction of Esports to the ISC; 
• Amendments to the right of review and to the maximum fines that stewards can impose in certain Competitions; 
• A policy to prevent and combat the unauthorised use of pyrotechnics at FIA Competitions.  

The amendments also provided for an expansion of the authority of the stewards to operate remotely in any FIA Championship and established the possibility that a maximum of two Competitions might be organised outside of the Parent ASN’s national territory for F4 National Championships. 

Judicial and Disciplinary Rules  

Following an analysis of the previous version of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules (JDR), a number of amendments were adopted at the FIA General Assembly in December 2023. These included, amongst others: 

• The introduction of the possibility to withdraw the intention to appeal a stewards’ decision; 
• Clarification of the deadline to appeal for the FIA; 
• Requests for an expedited procedure; 
• Amendments related to the payment of a deposit for the appeals; 
• An English version of Article 19.1 related to the complaints against members of the FIA Courts; 
• Limitations to increase a penalty imposed; 
• Alignment of the articles related to the nomination procedure of the President and Vice-President of the International Tribunal and of the International Court of Appeal. 

The FIA International Tribunal and International Court of Appeal heard a number of cases in 2023 and the FIA Legal Office represented the FIA before the ICA in one case concerning the 2023 FIA Formula E World Championship. 

Motor sport and race manipulation 

Sportradar (SR) continued to deliver universal fraud detection services (UFDS) to the FIA for all the Competitions counting towards the FIA Formula One World Championship, World Rally Championship, World Endurance Championship, World Rally-Cross Championship and Formula E World Championship. None of the UFDS alerts recorded in 2023 were ultimately deemed suspicious from an integrity standpoint.   

Safeguarding 

The Legal Office led the setting up of the timeframe, objectives and main principles to be developed in 2024. 

Other activities  

The Legal Office continued to revise regulatory and governance measures around the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The team also monitored recommendations issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) around Russian and Belarussian athlete participation.