Formula One: Fia Propose to Introduce Penalty Points for Dangerous Driving

Formula one drivers found guilty of dangerous driving on the race track face the prospect of penalty points that could lead to suspension under a "totting up" system proposed by the FIA president Max Mosley.

On the eve of tomorrow's FIA world motorsport council meeting in Monaco, Mosley voiced doubts over the effectiveness of the current system which involves stop-go and drive-through penalties imposed by the race stewards.

"There is a strong body of opinion that says you should have a referee who takes decisions immediately, like in football," Mosley said. "Your first requirement is to be fair and what we have at the moment is bound to give the occasional odd result. Even if it is not unfair, people think it is and that is just as bad."

However, the concept of penalty points was dismissed as "just bullshit" by Juan Pablo Montoya, whose world championship chances were scuppered by the imposition of a drive-through penalty after he had collided with Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari early in the US grand prix at Indianapolis.

Montoya said: "If we're worried about accumulating points for things then no one is going to risk anything and no body is going to pass anybody." But the McLaren driver David Coulthard commended Mosley for attempting to create an environment in which consistent penalties would be applied, saying: "I think the current system is flawed because there is an interpretation of varying stewards from race to race."

The new suggestion is that the FIA race director Charlie Whiting and the stewards of the meeting would have time to consider any apparent driving infringement after the race rather than take split-second decisions which, on reflection, might seem unfair.

Meanwhile McLaren has sent a firm signal to the Ferrari team not to bother making an offer to Kimi Raikkonen when his current contract expires at the end of next season.

McLaren officials have made it clear that they intend to partner Raikkonen with Montoya in 2005 in an attempt to create a super-team on a par with the legendary partnership between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna in 1988-89.

"We haven't signed Montoya with the intention of losing Kimi," said a McLaren insider. "The whole idea is to pair them together and that's what we're going to do."