Midfield Formula 1 teams are reportedly pushing for a new points scoring system which could be implemented as soon as the 2025 season.
Over the course of the Chinese Grand Prix, reports have emerged that the current F1 points system, that awards points to the top ten finishers, may be tweaked.
That is according to Motorsport.com, while further reports claimed the topic may be discussed and voted on as soon as the upcoming Formula 1 Commission meeting that includes the F1 teams, the sport’s governing body (FIA) and Formula One Management (FOM).
The current F1 grid effectively divided into two categories: The top five teams (Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, and Aston Martin) and the bottom five (Haas, Alpine, Williams, VCARB, and Sauber).
This means the teams in the lower part of the F1 grid are keen on having points being awards for top 12 finishers to make sure they get something in return for their efforts.
As it stands, none of the bottom-five teams have a realistic chance of scoring points unless one of the top five outfits hits trouble during a race weekend.
The current points system awards points to the top ten race finishers respectively as follows: 25 – 18 – 15 – 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 – 4 – 2 – 1.
The new proposed system will not change points for the top seven finishers, and will be as follows: 25 – 18 – 15 – 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1.
For the new points system to be effective in 2025, it needs a simple majority vote in the F1 Commission along with the approval of the FIA and FOM, meaning five teams out of ten must vote with the change for it to happen.
What the team bosses said
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur understands the plight of the midfield teams after being boss at Alfa Romeo (now Sauber) before, he said: “I’m not against.
“And coming from Alfa Romeo, I perfectly understand sometimes the frustration that you are doing a mega weekend, but if there is no DNF in front of you then you finish P11 and the reward is zero.
“[At the moment] you can finish P11 or P 20 and it is the same, so I can understand the frustration for this.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner is on the fence, he added: “It feels like there are two groups in Formula 1 at the moment, and the teams from six to 10 are in as hard a fight as one to five.
“I think it’s one of those things where you’ve just got to run the numbers and look at the analytics and say: what would it actually change? So I’m impartial to it.”
Haas boss Ayao Komatsu, who replaced Guenther Steiner at the start of the 2024 season would benefit from the changes, he asked: “What’s the downside?
“Currently, we have three teams with zero points and I don’t think that’s good for sport,” he pointed out. “If somebody was awarded points for P11, P12, there will be less people with zero points.
“So, I think it’s clearer for the fans and for the motivation of everybody working in a team as well. It’s much better to come out with P12 with one point, P11 with two points – it’s a reward.”
Laurent Mekies, team principal of the Red Bull-owned VCARB will support the change, he declared: “Of course, I will support that. There are no back-markers any more. There are six OEMs in F1, plus Red Bull Racing, so it’s like seven top teams.
“Even the bottom five teams are large organisations now and it’s very difficult to explain to the outside world, to our partners, and to our fans, that we battle for a P11 that actually grants zero points.
“If you look at the level of competitiveness of the top five teams and the reliability level of the cars, it means that most of the race you’re battling theoretically for zero points, and we don’t think this is right.
“We also think it’s more meritocratic because, if you score points up until P12, you will avoid the effect where if something completely stunning happens and somebody scores a P5 or P4 in the rain, it means the other guys can stay home for 10 races.
“We think it’s ticking all the boxes with virtually no downside, so hopefully it will go through,” the Frenchman concluded.