Formula One's governing body has kicked up a controversy with a new super license points system for 2016 that, if applied in the past, would have kept the legendary Ayrton Senna waiting for a debut.

The revamped criteria, in an appendix to the international sporting code buried inside the fia.com website and published quietly last month, will ensure all drivers are over 18.

They also must have earned at least 40 points, on a scale set by the FIA, through competing in other series over the previous three seasons.