DECEMBER 11, 2009

F1 gets a new scoring system

The FIA World Council has agreed to adopt the new top 10 points scoring system proposed by the F1 Commission. This is due to the expanded grid of 13 teams. The aim of this is to allow more teams to score points, and thus have something to sell to their sponsors.

The new system also increases the gap between the top three runners and the rest. The ratio between the winner, second and third places remains the same with the runner-up scoring 80% of the total scored by the winner; the third-placed finisher will still score 60% of the winner™s total, as with the old system.

Fourth place, however, becomes less valuable with the previous 50% of the winner™s total being reduced to 40%, fifth place goes from 40% to 32% and sixth place from 30% to 24%. Seventh place retains the same value at 20% of the winner™s total, while eighth place increases from 10% to 12%. Ninth and 10th now have a value which was not previously the case, although under the Concorde Agreement the points were not really the key issue as the finishing positions outside the top eight still counted towards division of the prize money.

The current system has been used since 2003. Prior to that, between 1991 and 2002 a victory was worth 10 points with second place getting six points (60%) and third place four points (40%). Before that (between 1961 and 1990) a win was worth nine points with second place getting six points (66.6%) and third place four (44.4%). There were various different systems of defining the World Champion based on only a selected number of races.

Before 1961 the system was eight points for a win, six for second (75% of the winner™s total) and four for third place (50%), although there was a point extra for the driver who set the fastest lap.

Thus if one looks at the ratios of first-to-second they have been: 75 “ 66.6 “ 60 “ 80 and second-to-third have been 50 “ 44.4 “ 40 “ 60.