In Jeux Sans Frontieres, the international version of It's A Knockout, teams could play their Joker, while in Monopoly - much like the British legal system at present - there is the 'get out of jail free' card.

Now, in 2008, it is understood, F1 will have its very own novelty, the engine change without penalty rule, whereby the first engine failure of each car will not result in the 'traditional' ten place grid penalty.

The gimmick, sorry, new rule, was agreed in Paris last weekend when Max Mosley met with the F1 teams.

Not that it matters of course, but for many fans the prospect of one of the championship leaders fighting their way through the pack was a mouth-watering prospect, in the opinion of many, the only truly beneficial thing to emerge from the engine penalty rule. This new ruling, combined with the fact that most of the engines are 'bullet-proof' these days anyway, is hardy likely to go down well with the people watching from the grandstands and on their TVs. But like we said, since when did that matter?

At the same meeting, it was agreed the proposed ten year engine freeze will be reduced to five years, with all work on engines to cease from the eve of the forthcoming Australian Grand Prix.

With the new five-year freeze, the new engine will now be introduced for the 2013 season, the objectives of which Mosley aims to have agreed by the end of this year.

Key targets, he writes, in a letter to the teams seen by Reuters, are: "low cost, long life, inexpensive running costs for independent teams and consistency with industry requirements for efficiency and low carbon emissions".

Detailed regulations for the new engine - the costs of which will be capped - will be published in June 2010.

Mosley writes: "The 2013 engine regulations will also cap both the engine manufacturers' costs for a season and the amount charged for supplying an independent team for a season".