Formula One's governing body has confirmed that the 2009 drivers' championship will be decided by the same points system as last year rather than awarding it to the winner of most races.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) published the updated sporting regulations on its website (www.fia.com) on Tuesday.

"The Formula One world championship driver's title will be awarded to the driver who has scored the highest number of points," they said.

The race winner will get 10 points with the rest allocated in a sequence of 8-6-5-4-3-2-1.

The FIA had triggered a controversy last week when it announced after a meeting of its world motor sport council that the title would go to the winner of most races, even if someone else scored more points.

The governing body then backtracked on Friday, agreeing to postpone any change to 2010 if teams did not agree with the new system.

The teams had accused the FIA of ignoring the rules by imposing a change without the unanimous agreement of all competitors entered in the championship.

The 2009 season starts on Sunday with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

FIA also announced that they have agreed to reduce F1 drivers' super licenses costs from next year.

A number of drivers had complained that the cost of the licenses was too high prior to the beginning of the 2009 F1 Championship

It said a proposal would now be put to the FIA's World Motor Sport Council to revise fees for drivers entering the 2010 championship. No financial details were given.

A part of those reductions is an optional 30 million pound ($43.75 million) budget cap for teams in exchange for greater technical freedom.

(Reuters via China Daily March 26, 2009)