Written by Tarun Suresh, Edited by Sean McKean
Not long ago, rumours circulated that F1 would be discussing a new points system which would include points for eleventh and twelfth place finishers. Fast forward to this week, more rumours have popped up claiming a new system with points for all finishers is being seriously considered.
This — like almost all new decisions by the FOM – was met with unyielding criticism from the fanbase. While there have been some unsavoury decisions by them in the past, this new points system isn’t one of them.
To understand why this is beneficial, we must first understand why a points system exists in the first place: To accurately determine who performed the best over the course of a season. The way the current points system is tailored, only the top ten finishers get points, and the rest get nothing. Seeing as one point for the bottom-five teams can amount to millions being won or lost, the points system is unrepresentative of teams’ true pace throughout the season.
Hypothetically, let’s say that I’m racing for a bottom- five team and finish in eleventh for every single race of the season, and my teammate finishes nineteenth for every single race. But, my teammate catches some luck and finishes a race in tenth.
In the current points’ structure, I would be placed behind my teammate in the standings, despite performing better in nearly every race of the season – just like George Russell in his rookie season.
Now, if the same thing happens with two constructors instead, it’s going to leave one team with millions more of – perhaps, undeserved –in prize money, which would be vital in the development race. Not to mention the sponsors who tend to flock towards the teams who finish higher in the standings.
There are two common arguments heard against a points- for-all system. The first one being something along the lines of, “Points for all drivers would reduce the value of a point, so a points finish wouldn’t be celebrated anymore.” This is just plain wrong. The value of a point really doesn’t matter when you consider why a points system exists in the first place.
As for the second part of the argument, let’s go back in time a bit. Before 2010, points were given to the top eight finishers, but starting from 2010, points were given to the top ten finishers. We still see drivers and teams celebrating top-five/top-six finishes, the same way they would celebrate for the top-ten finishes.
The second argument I see quite frequently goes along the lines of, “F1 was doing just fine back in the olden days when we had points for the top six finishers.” If the previous argument was plain wrong, this is worse. The old points system was poor, but the same criticisms for the current points system also apply to the old one – only a bit more harshly.
Personally, I’d love to see a points system similar to the one in IndyCar: It works great, is pretty accurate and does everything a points system should do in the first place.
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