Thankfully it's not medals!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80521

Formula 1 is set for a radical alteration to its points system in 2010 if the World Motor Sport Council approves an F1 Commission proposal to give points to the top 10 finishers in each race.

In today's Commission meeting, chaired by Bernie Ecclestone and attended by FIA president Jean Todt, a new scoring system was put forward which will award 25 points to each race winner, 20 for second place, 15 for third and 10 for fourth, before descending 8-6-5-3-2-1 for fifth through 10th positions.

Although it's pretty close to the medal system, if you're not regularly finishing on the podium then you don't have a shot at the championship.

Jenson Button would've scored 230.5 points this season based on the proposed point system, while Sebastien Vettel would've scored 203 points. The relative gap would've been virtually the same with Vettel scoring 88.0% of Button's points compared to 88.4% under the current system.

About how this completely screws up previous point records, Michael Schumacher has the point record at 1369.0, with Fernando Alonso the highest active driver at 577 (Kimi would've had it at 579 if he hadn't gone over to WRC). Looking back at Ferrari's last competitive year, 2008, Felipe Massa would've scored 239 points under the proposed system. If Alonso puts up that pace then he'll have the point record in just 3.3 seasons, or around 60 races!

I don't like the new points system but I can see why they would change it. For one they want to encourage new teams to battle for positions even if it is only 10th place and 1 point.

Talon64 - 10 December 2009 05:00 PM

About how this completely screws up previous point records

The points system has been changing anyway, and we've had more races per season more recently. If the new system passes at least we can stop pretending comparing "point records" is valid between eras.

Fargate - 10 December 2009 08:00 PM

Talon64 - 10 December 2009 05:00 PM

About how this completely screws up previous point records

The points system has been changing anyway, and we've had more races per season more recently. If the new system passes at least we can stop pretending comparing "point records" is valid between eras.

In that case, average points scored per race is a better record to keep track of and yet it's still going to be skewed because 25 points a win is huge compared to any era.

Just use average finish

Fargate - 10 December 2009 08:00 PM

Talon64 - 10 December 2009 05:00 PM

About how this completely screws up previous point records

The points system has been changing anyway, and we've had more races per season more recently. If the new system passes at least we can stop pretending comparing "point records" is valid between eras.

+1

There is no comparison from 2008 points to the 60s 70s or 80s.

delete double post oops

ShovelerLX - 10 December 2009 10:39 PM

Fargate - 10 December 2009 08:00 PM

Talon64 - 10 December 2009 05:00 PM

About how this completely screws up previous point records

The points system has been changing anyway, and we've had more races per season more recently. If the new system passes at least we can stop pretending comparing "point records" is valid between eras.

+1

There is no comparison from 2008 points to the 60s 70s or 80s.

Yep. And comparing records for poles has been totally bunged up by the "parc ferme for fuel strategy" BS

So who is going to go look up the past 6 decades of F1 and list who would have been driver and constructor champions instead with this system? lol

I did...

1999 - would have been Eddie Irvine instead of Mika Häkkinen defending his title
1997 - Schumacher would have been up by 24 points going into the last race and he probably woul have let Villeneuve by instead of ramming him off the road and getting disqualified.
1994 - Daemon Hill would have clinched the series prior to his collision with Schumacher that gave the series to Schui. So Schumacher would not have won his first WDC but would have won his first WDC with with Ferrari two years before... If they would have taken him with only one win in 96.
1988 - Prost would have beat Senna by a landslide 43 points
1976 - Niki Lauda would have beat James Hunt by five points
1964 - Graham Hill wouldn't have had the championship stolen from him by Ferrari and John Surtees with their dirty dirty team orders.

And possibly the greatest season of all!!!
1950 the first year of Formula 1 would have ended completely differently because instead of Nino Farina winning the WDC with 3 first places a fourth and a seventh Luigi Fagioli would have won the WDC without ever winning a race, four second places and a third... On the podium in every race he finished. How would that have changed the idea of the formula for winning in Formula One?