Plans to change the points system, awarding points to all twenty drivers, have been scrapped.

The bid to award points to all twenty drivers was revealed by Vijay Mallya in July following a meeting of the Strategy Group.

"They're considering whether the points system should go all the way down to 20th, 20th being every car scores a point if they finish the race," he said. "The bottom starts with one point and then goes up. Or whether 10th should be extended down to 15th. All these discussions took place."

As ever, not everyone agreed with the proposal.

"The point that was made is that there's a certain panache at being referred to as finishing in the top 10," he admitted. "That will get diluted if you start giving points down the line.

"When we do well all my friends send me messages saying, 'Congratulations, another top 10 finish'," he said, "Top 10 has a certain sense of achievement to it.

"The counter point that was made was that if every driver gets a point, all the way down to the bottom, then every car is going to be racing for a point. So at the end of the day nobody is going to stop pushing the limits just because they're outside the top 10 and there is no reward at the end.

"There was a suggestion to make it up to 15. There is obviously going to be more debate. This was based on research that was done."

Charlie Whiting however, has confirmed that there will be no change to the current point system introduced in 2010.

"It is something that if everybody had agreed to, we would look at introducing it in 2019," he said, confirming that the idea had now been dropped.

However, the curfew rules have been amended for next season, extending the current curfew on Friday and Saturday nights from eight hours to nine.

The curfew, introduced in 2011, is intended to reduce the number of hours personnel work over a Grand Prix weekend, though teams are allowed two exceptions over the course of the season.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by PlayF1, 12/10/2018 13:19

"Uffen makes a fair point, particularly in relation to the drivers wanting to make their name.

However, I do believe that fighting for points across an entire series, would invigorate the entire team(s).

No longer solely relying upon the odd lucky point, teams would be forced to build their points haul.
The racing would truly mean something.
The points would reflect their performance across the season.

My reasoning is that - there can exist a higher state of connectivity amongst a team - something that might be difficult to plan for.
The shared goal causing the team to spark.

It's an ephemeral concept, but it is one that is known to exist.

It occurs when the stakes are very high.
Everybody is tuned in, just that little bit more, everything clicks quicker, solutions are found that would have been missed.

That awesome gap that is measured in seconds of lap time - that might begin to fall.

It's a concept.
But it's a zero cost concept, that will anyway provide tangible benefits by better recording the teams performances.

... and if the issue of top 10 kudos does not exist, then there are no visible negs.

With all the seriously complex issues being discussed and hashed over; this option seemed to me to be a no brainer.

Anyway, it's purely an academic discussion, because the concept has been kicked out, due to the team voting.
Ie. The teams that are always in the points, want to keep the other teams out of the points.

Is this a form of suppression?
The lower teams certainly wanted it.

The problem lies with the voting structure - where any team can veto a change, even if there is a majority for it.

Personally, in this incident of points allocation, I believe that it should not be the teams that vote on it.
Technical issues ... fine, because they require technical implementation.
... but points allocation should be handled by the sporting body, not the teams.

Hey; it's not like that."

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2. Posted by chessedflag, 11/10/2018 23:58

"after monaco I was wondering some different
what if we go back to the best 10 results, as in the old days
when they did the change they wanted to reward consistency, so, be it
but motivation to climb one possition will be counting on the best 10 or perhaps 15 results"

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3. Posted by Uffen, 11/10/2018 21:10

"There are kudos for top three (podium) and there used to be for top six (old points system). Now it is top ten.
I understand what PlayF1 is saying but I disagree that it would spice up the racing. At least it shouldn't. If those lower-placed guys aren't already driving hard there is a deeper problem. They've got team mates to beat and reputations to establish or maintain. The top teams watch them (overtly with Red Bull/Toro Rosso) and they understand the relative competitiveness of the lower ranks.
No, those guys want desperately to stay in F1 and get to a big team. They don't need points, their finishing positions are enough. "

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4. Posted by Mad Matt, 11/10/2018 17:57

"100% agree with PlayF1 below. I'd also point out that "top 10 finish" hasn't lost its kudos in other series which award points beyond 10th place."

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5. Posted by PlayF1, 11/10/2018 13:35

"Yes, the 'top 10 finish' kudos would be lost ... but does the importance of that outweigh the racing benefits to be had from extending points to at least the top 15?

The top 6 places are typically taken but for accidents, leaving just 4 points finishing places to be fought for.
... but what about the racing going on below the top 10?

What's the point of battling for 14th place ("I'm in 15th place ... I don't care").
... and all those millions spent, with nothing to show the sponsors, nor the team fans, nor all the team staff.

Providing points to 15th would increase the competitive nature of the sport.
This is a statement of the obvious.
If there is something to win, the whole team is lifted to the maximum ... that extra special effort that might just tip the scales.

A zero cost improvement, that wouldn't hurt anyone.

This was a missed opportunity that was probably outvoted by the teams that are always in the points.

"

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F1 abandons plan to change points system

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