Why F1's RADICAL proposed points change is a positive step

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Why F1's RADICAL proposed points change is a positive step

Changing the point-scoring system in Formula 1 is a change necessitated by the modern age

Jim Kimberley

Wednesday 24 April 2024 15:57

There are countless ways that I'd tinker with Formula 1 to improve the show, and almost all of them would be heavy-handed, divisive adjustments.

Yet I'm surprisingly encouraged by the relatively low-impact proposed plans to see Formula 1 offer the top-12 finishers a points-scoring reward.

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While I can't agree with the sport seeking to prevent more teams from joining, there is far more logic behind letting those already there have more to play for.

Should the F1 Commission secure a majority and pass the proposal for an upcoming season, it will have an evangelist in me. Here's why.

Establishing order

You can always see which team was the best in a season by their points tally, but that's not the same for who is the worst.

A single wet weekend, a multi-car crash, or an ill-timed red flag can shower points on an undeserving team or driver that has contributed little elsewhere in the year.

Top teams who regularly end a weekend with a points haul can even out these occasional oddities by resuming normal service at the next race.

For those who see a bottom-10 placement as their regular schedule, having their rivals benefit massively from luck has longer-lasting consequences.

We're not solely talking about a lower championship placement here but seasons-long disadvantages against their closest, perhaps luckier, challengers.

One-off points placement

Take George Russell's P2 at the 2021 Belgian GP, where he brought Williams home nine of their 10 Spa points, representing 43% of the team's season total.

The soaking-wet Qualifying had Russell and teammate Nicholas Latifi's Q3 appearances turn into top-10 finishes behind two laps of Safety Car running.

Alfa Romeo finished higher than Williams at 15 of the season's other 20 races where at least one of the two teams' drivers finished.

However, the championship standings had the Swiss team trailing them, ironically by 10 points - the same as William's Spa haul - even though Alfa were the better constructor at 75% of all other rounds.

Williams scored millions more dollars in prize money because the Ardennes forest's deluge coincided with F1's visit while being the worst team of the two.

Extending the point-scoring positions to the top-12 places would've had an Alfa driver get points in 11 more of their finishes, but the consistently poorer Williams only in five.

All the while, the once-in-a-generation 2021 championship fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton would be wholly unaffected by the reallocation.

Haves and have-nots

I can't recall any season when the field has had such a clear split than 2024 in all my years watching F1, even though the grid is tighter than ever.

Qualifying often has a single second cover all 20 cars, yet the same overalls on the rostrum once the chequered flag falls.

We've reached a time when for Haas, RB, Williams, Alpine, or Sauber to score points, they're at the mercy of a retirement or mistake from someone in the other five teams.

Sprint highlights this disparity more when only eight drivers can score points, and a top-team DNF doesn't automatically mean points for others.

We saw this in China when the top four teams were the only ones to score, although Fernando Alonso did his best to join in the fun in 2024's fifth-best car.

Although I'm against knee-jerk decisions that fix a seasonal issue with a long-lasting rule change, this issue has long caused a less visible division in the paddock.

It just so happens that the current era of reliability is exacerbating the problem when half the field locks out the top 10 places by default.

Points are not participation trophies

Changing point-scoring mechanisms is hardly a new concept for Formula 1, and a switch in 2025 would represent the seventh scoring system of the 2000s alone.

I disagree with those who believe a P12 and the proposed point that'd go with it somehow lessens the 25 points a winner receives; an entire year of P12 finishes still would have that driver finish below anyone with one victory trophy.

Historically, unreliability had Formula 1 dropping a driver's worst races for most of the sport's 75-year history while not punishing fortunate underdogs that grabbed a point or two amid the V12 engine smoke of retired frontrunners.

We've reached a point where the pendulum has swung the other way, and races with everyone crossing the line are no longer a rarity.

It shouldn't be controversial that the point-scoring system that catered for unreliability in the first decades of F1 accommodates the near-bulletproof nature of today's cars.

Of course, seeing more drivers scoring points might be a sweeter pill to swallow for sceptics if there were more drivers on the grid, but that, seemingly, is asking F1 for too much...

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