Wednesday March 20th, 2002

Jaguar driver Eddie Irvine has criticised the FIA's decision to introduce new rules after a meeting with the team bosses in Paris on Tuesday.

The FIA said that, starting in 2004, the drivers will be limited to only one engine per Grand Prix, and if a team is forced to replace that engine or use the spare car before the race itself, the driver will lose ten places on the grid.

But Irvine has spoken against the new regulations, saying that the races would then be "manufactured."

"Formula One is a sport, it's not Hollywood," Irvine told BBC's Radio 5 Live. "We have got to make the spectacle as good as possible, but we cannot manufacture the spectacle."

The FIA also announced that drivers who cause accidents can expect tougher sanctions starting at next week's Brazilian Grand Prix after the FIA said that race stewards will be able to send a car to the back of the grid to punish offending drivers.

"The stewards have been given the power to move a driver involved in an accident 10 places back from his qualifying position for the grid at the next event," the FIA said on Wednesday.

Last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix was marked by a first-corner incident between Ferrari's World Champion Michael Schumacher and the Williams of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, who was deemed to have caused "an avoidable collision".

Montoya became the first Formula One driver to suffer a "drive-through" penalty, a measure brought in this season under which a competitor must drive slowly through the pits as a punishment during the race.

Published at 20:49:52 GMT