THE 2006 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
1. ACCREDITATION PRINCIPLES
2. ACCREDITATION CRITERIA
3. PERMANENT ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE
4. RACE-BY-RACE ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE
5. ELECTRONIC MEDIA AND WEBSITES
ACCREDITATION PRINCIPLES
Editors of publications are asked to conform to the following principles to ensure that media accreditation is restricted to professional journalists and photographers.
1. The FIA considers the "Media" pass to be a working tool to be used only by bona fide members of the press. Publishers, marketing personnel, sub-editors, staff of the publication's secretariat, etc. cannot be accredited as Media.
2. The FIA only accredits publications:
a) with a minimum circulation whose size and quality fulfill the criteria of the FIA;
b) with a format and quality which fulfill the criteria of the FIA;
c) which are on general sale to the public;
Club and internal magazines of companies, trade magazines and newsletters cannot be accredited as Media.
3. TV and Radio, websites and other electronic media must send their application to Formula One Management Ltd, Accreditation Service, 6 Princes Gate, London SW7 - Great Britain - Tel (44) 207 584 6668 / Fax (44) 207 589 2191.
4. Under no circumstances will advertising, public relations agencies or similar companies and organisations be accredited as media, nor will the FIA issue any accreditation to representatives (press officers or otherwise) of sponsors, suppliers, engine suppliers, teams, drivers, etc.
5. The FIA will only accredit press from outside the country in which the event is held. National press must apply to the National Press Officer (e.g. German press applying for the German Grand Prix should apply to the National Press Officer or contact Hockenheim directly whilst press from countries other than Germany should apply to the FIA).
6. The central and local offices of the major international press agencies (AP, AFP, Reuters, ANSA, UPI, DPA, LUSA, BELGA, JIJI, KYODO, EFE, Press Association, SAPA, Australian AP, APA, etc.) will always be accredited by the FIA.
ACCREDITATION CRITERIA
The FIA will allocate annual permanent Media accreditation to publications intending to publish reports for every Formula One race during the season.
Press passes can also be allocated on a race-by-race basis to general news, specialist, business and lifestyle consumer publications that do not intend to publish conventional race reports but whose coverage is considered to be of promotional benefit to the sport.
Usually, a maximum of two representatives (journalists and/or photographers) per publication may be accredited for any one round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Agencies are subject to the same requirements as publications.
All applicants must fulfill the following basic criteria:
Coverage
For a daily newspaper, a substantial amount of coverage for each event is required. For example, an introductory article in the Thursday edition, follow-up articles in Friday, Saturday and, where applicable, Sunday editions, plus a race report in the Monday edition.
For a weekly or monthly publication, a substantial amount of coverage for each event is required and a major portion of the overall content should be on the subject of Formula One.
Quality
The highest standards of fairness and accuracy are expected as a minimum quality requirement from the press.
Circulation
Accreditation decisions are based on the relative ‘media market’ in the country of the applicant. As such, the usual minimum circulation for a national weekly or monthly publication is 20,000 copies. For a national daily the minimum circulation is 50,000 copies.
Freelance journalists must apply for credentials via their own agencies. The onus is on the freelance applicant to prove the supply of regular stories to at least five publications meeting the FIA accreditation criteria.
Photo agencies must be able to prove that the pictures have been regularly sold to publications matching the FIA criteria and have been paid for at the normal commercial rate. A publication must be able to prove that the pictures published are the original work of the publication's accredited photographer.
PERMANENT ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE
A Formula One permanent press pass will provide access to every Grand Prix during the given Formula One season. To qualify for a Formula One permanent press or photographer’s credential applicants must submit sample proofs of coverage to the FIA Press Council by the appropriate deadline.
The FIA Press Council meets annually to review applications.
To qualify for a permanent journalist’s credential the applicant must have attended at least 12 events during the previous year’s Championship.
To qualify for a permanent photographer’s credential the applicant must have attended at least 14 events during the previous year’s Championship. Additionally, to qualify for a permanent photographer’s pass, at least 280 photographs, per pass issued, must have been published in the press during the previous year’s Championship.
The FIA Press Council is made up of leading international motor sport correspondents, representatives of motor sport photographers and FIA Press delegates from the key FIA Championships (Formula One, WRC, WTCC, GT and the Photographers’ Delegate). The Press Council is chaired by the FIA Director of Communications.
RACE-BY-RACE ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE
For race-by-race passes, the FIA will only accredit press from outside the country in which the event is held. National publications must apply via the event’s national press office.
Applicants must submit sample proofs of coverage to the FIA External Relations Department at the latest three weeks prior to the first day of the event (see deadlines listed below).
Publications or agencies applying for a race-by-race photographer accreditation must supply evidence of independent coverage of a minimum of 15 pictures per pass issued at each event they have been accredited for in the previous year’s Championship. The number of international press photographer passes will usually not exceed 30 at any one event.
Promotional photographers for teams, sponsors, etc. who do not comply with the above criteria may apply for accreditation to Formula One Management (address below).
Accreditation decisions are made by the FIA Formula One Press Delegate and Photographers’ Delegate according to the following procedures:
1. Applications must be received at least three weeks (see deadlines below) prior to the first day of the relevant event and should be sent by registered post to the following address:
FIA External Relations Department
Accreditation Unit (Formula One)
8, Place de la Concorde
75008 Paris
France
2. Applications which are late, incomplete, or sent by fax may not be considered.
3. Requests must be sent with the accreditation form and a formal application letter written on the publication's letterhead. This letter must be signed by the editor or a senior member of the editorial staff. Requests signed by clerical staff will not be accepted.
This letter must include:
a) the name(s) of the representative(s) who will be covering the event(s);
b) the photocopy of the official national press card(s) (where applicable) of the representative(s) who will be covering the event(s);
c) the job title(s) of the representative(s) (journalist(s) and/or photographer(s));
d) information on the publication (such as circulation, readership, frequency, etc);
e) an original copy of the publication;
f) photocopies or originals of material published following previous FIA Formula One Grands Prix;
g) a contact fax number;
h) a formal undertaking from the editor to publish a report related to the event concerned and an indication as to when this report will be published;
i) an identity photo in electronic format (*jpeg or *tif) of the representative must be sent to the Accreditation Unit (Formula One) to the following email address:
Important: The subject of the email must be filled in as follows: Name of the Grand Prix – Name of the Publication – Name of the Representative.
Note: d', 'e' and 'h' do not apply to the major international press agencies.
4. The FIA will fax or email the result of the application to the publication. If successful, an agreement will be included for signature by the editor of the publication.
If the representative(s) is (are) unable to attend the event, the FIA External Relations Department must be notified as early as possible before the opening of the accreditation centre.
If a change of representative(s) is to be made, please notify the FIA External Relations Department as early as possible.
5. The representative(s) must produce the signed agreement which is sent with the confirmation when collecting the credential at the event. NO ACCREDITATION CAN BE COLLECTED WITHOUT THIS DOCUMENT.
6. The application for a press pass must include written confirmation that the publication/agency or the journalist/photographer to whom the credential has been allocated has not applied or will not apply for additional FIA passes for any other purposes, including journalism for Television and Radio networks.
Deadlines
The deadline for applications is usually three weeks prior to the first day of the relevant event, unless otherwise stated (please see below). Late requests may not be examined.
| 1 | Bahrain Grand Prix | |
| 2 | Malaysian Grand Prix | Thursday 23 February 2006 |
| 3 | Australian Grand Prix | |
| 4 | San Marino Grand Prix | Thursday 30 March 2006 |
| 5 | European Grand Prix | |
| 6 | Spanish Grand Prix | Thursday 20 April 2006 |
| 7 | Monaco Grand Prix | Thursday 04 May 2006 |
| 8 | British Grand Prix | Thursday 18 May 2006 |
| 9 | Canadian Grand Prix | Thursday 1 June 2006 |
| 10 | United States Grand Prix | Thursday 08 June 2006 |
| 11 | French Grand Prix | Thursday 22 June 2006 |
| 12 | German Grand Prix | Thursday 06 July 2006 |
| 13 | Hungarian Grand Prix | |
| 14 | Turkish Grand Prix | Thursday 03 August 2006 |
| 15 | Italian Grand Prix | Thursday 17 August 2006 |
| 16 | Chinese Grand Prix * | Thursday 24 August 2006 |
| 17 | Japanese Grand Prix | Thursday 14 September 2006 |
| 18 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Thursday 28 September 2006 |
If a decision is disputed an individual application will be referred to the Director of Communications for final approval.
The FIA liaises closely with National Press Offices and National Sporting Authorities to confirm the validity of a given application.
Priority is given to publications intending to publish a report related to the event for which the accreditation is requested.
ELECTRONIC MEDIA AND WEBSITES
All applications from web sites and other electronic media should be directed to Formula One Management, as with television, radio and promotional photographer applications.
Formula One Management Ltd.
6 Princes Gate
London SW7
Great Britain
T +44 207 584 66 68
F +44 207 589 03 11
