F1 could actually see a change to its scoring format

Is Formula 1 heading towards a new scoring format?

Momentum seems to indicate that is indeed the case.

The sports “F1 Commission,” which consists of the ten teams on the grid as well as the FIA and Formula One Management — the sport’s commercial rights holders — met last month to consider a change to how points are currently allocated at the conclusion of a race. At the end of that meeting, the F1 Commission issued a statement noting that a final decision was deferred until their July meeting, at which point in time they will consider an actual proposal to the system.

“Commission members discussed a proposal for changes to the distribution of championship points, as described in articles 6.4 and 6.5 of the sporting regulations,” the FIA said in a statement. “It was agreed that further analysis of proposed changes was required with a view to a proposal to be presented to the F1 Commission meeting in July.”

Under F1 regulations, six teams would need to vote in favor of such a change. However, it seems that the grid is moving in favor of a change to the system.

But what could that change be, and how might it impact the sport?

Currently, the top ten finishers in a grand prix secure points, which are distributed as follows:

First place: 25 points
Second place: 18 points
Third place: 15 points
Fourth place: 12 points
Fifth place: 10 points
Sixth place: 8 points
Seventh place: 6 points
Eighth place: 4 points
Ninth place: 2 points
Tenth place: 1 point

In F1 Sprint races, only the top eight finishers score points, starting with eight points to the winner, down to a point for P8.

The grand prix scoring system has been in place in F1 since 2010. However, in the cost cap era, where the teams are — at least theoretically — more evenly matched, a situation is created where some teams that are quick and some drivers that have pace are left fighting for the scraps at the bottom of that list.

Take, for example, the start of last season. Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin were the four fastest teams at the start of the year. That left the other six teams (and the other 12 drivers) fighting for those last two spots in the points each race weekend. It was a topic I discussed with Lando Norris early last year, before McLaren’s meteoric rise up the standings later in the year.

“Tough question. Points now is what we’re aiming for,” said Norris ahead of last season’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. “I think that’s a realistic thing. We’ve got four very quick teams now, Aston have made that big step forward, and there’s eight spaces on the grid which get taken up very quickly. It’s a tough battle behind, we’re very close, it’s a good battle with Alpine, they were very quick in Australia too, and definitely a step ahead of us.”

This season the fight for points might be even tougher. Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari have been the three fastest teams so far, but when you add in Mercedes and Aston Martin, suddenly the ten points positions are, on paper at least, occupied at the start of each race weekend.

This has largely been the case this season. Here are the current F1 Constructors’ Championship standings:

Red Bull: 239 points
Ferrari: 187 points
McLaren: 124 points
Mercedes: 64 points
Aston Martin: 42 points
VCARB: 19 points
Haas: 7 points
Alpine: 1 point
Williams: 0 points
Sauber: 0 points

Of the 683 points scored this season (over six grands prix and two sprint races) 656 have come from the top five teams with just 27 going to the other five teams on the grid. That is 96% of the available points going to those top five teams.

Now, one way to look at this is that it gives an incentive for the teams at the bottom of the table to improve, but that ignores the fact that those teams have improved. One of the team principals that spoke out in favor of a change to the points structure at the Miami Grand Prix was Laurent Mekies, the Team Principal at Visa Cash App RB F1 Team. He talked about how close the field is, particularly at the back of the grid.

“Look, we think it’s a good idea to increase the points distribution, mainly because there is no back markers anymore. We have ten very strong teams. This year is a good example. We have a fantastic fight also in the second part of the grid, ten cars fighting within one tenth, two tenths,” said Mekies during the FIA Press Conferences in Miami. “And, you know, our pole position is P11 currently. Our win is P11. If nothing happened at the front, and the reliability of the guys at the front has been... extraordinary.

“So we think it’s a fantastic fight. We want to explain it to the fans. We want to explain it to our partners and we think that points will help to give value to that P11, which today for us is a victory. So for sure we are supportive of an extension of the point system,” added Mekies. “Then now whether you go to P12, to P14, to whatever, we can discuss, but I think where the level of competitiveness of the teams is so high nowadays that the fight in the midfield, the fight at the back will also deserve some points.”

To that point, consider qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso finished in P15 during the first portion of qualifying, becoming the last driver to advance to Q2. Valtteri Bottas of Sauber finished in P16, on the outside looking in.

Alonso’s best lap in Q1? 1:28.453. As for Bottas, his best lap was 1:28.463. Just 0.010 seconds separated the two, but Alonso was moving on, and Bottas’ day was finished.

The grid is that tight, to Mekies’ point.

One of the proposals that has been floated is extending the points positions to P12, allocating points as follows:

First place: 25 points
Second place: 18 points
Third place: 15 points
Fourth place: 12 points
Fifth place: 10 points
Sixth place: 8 points
Seventh place: 6 points
Eighth place: 5 points
Ninth place: 4 points
Tenth place: 3 points
Eleventh place: 2 points
Twelfth place: 1 point

Under that grand prix scoring format, how would the current Constructors’ Championship standings look? Nothing would change at the top, but things would look a little different at the bottom:

Red Bull: 239 points
Ferrari: 187 points
McLaren: 124 points
Mercedes: 64 points
Aston Martin: 43 points
VCARB: 20 points
Haas: 13 points
Williams: 5 points
Alpine: 4 points
Sauber: 2 points

Suddenly, every team is at least on the board, and Williams shuffles up to P8, thanks to P11 finishes from Alexander Albon in Saudi Arabia and Australia, and a P12 from Albon in China.

Of course, some caveats. This is not a massive shift — although given this is just over six races, you can picture how it could impact an entire season — and had those two new points positions been added, teams might have approached race strategy differently. Still, adding those two positions sees all ten teams on the board, and gives teams at the back something to show for their efforts.

James Vowles, the boss of one of those teams at the back, called an expanded format “sensible” at the Miami Grand Prix.

Same thing. I think changing the points is sensible. Exactly that,” said the Williams boss in Miami. “There was just questions over where do we go? Is it P12, P14, P16? All cars, fundamentally? In terms of tuning it at the front, I think my conclusion from that is Verstappen won by winning the most races. It doesn’t matter what you do. It would have still led to him winning championships. That’s just a strength that they’ve come up with, the car and him, together as a package.

“But I think there’s some sensible… It was a very good conversation at the F1 Commission around this where the room was pretty much united in let’s do something that’s good for the sport. However, let’s take our time to get it right and do it once.”

Mike Krack, the Team Principal at Aston Martin, concurred that the system needs to be altered, arguing that every team needs something to fight for. However, the Aston Martin boss cautioned that the sport should not rush into a change, only to revisit the scoring format in short order.

“Yeah, I agree. I think the system needs to be looked at. We have a new fan base also. We are not anymore the purists that we were for these many years. So I think it is really time to have a look at this. Personally, I think there always needs to be something to fight for, wherever you are. A bit like Laurent mentioned, we should obviously not be too much influenced by how it is this year, because next year can be different than the year after,” said Krack in Miami. “But I think it was a good consensus in the F1 Commission to say we want to make an adjustment, but we should not rush it, because we don’t want to change it again later. So I think it’s important that we have a good thought about it, and then we discuss some different proposals next time.”

However, there is a line of thought that F1 needs a more radical approach to the scoring system. Perhaps, as is done in IndyCar, every driver receives points for a race, from P1 down to P20. IndyCar also awards points for qualifying position and laps led, but every driver receives at least five points depending on where they finish.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown — who oversees an operation that competes in IndyCar as well — at least floated that idea in Miami while concurring that the system needs to be changed.

“I think increasing that will just create more excitement throughout the whole field. So we’re supportive of more teams getting more points,” said Brown in Miami.

However, the McLaren boss was pressed on how far back he would extend the points positions in F1, and he started with P12, while noting that there is an “argument” for points being awarded to all 20 drivers in the field.

“I think certainly twelve. I think there could be an argument made for all. That would obviously be quite an overhaul,” said Brown.

“But I think as soon as points come into play, it makes every pass that much more important. Sometimes cars will pull in, save some stuff on their car, wear and tear, because they’re out of the points. That would eliminate that. If a quicker car gets shuffled to the back, every pass counts. So I think there’s an argument you could make for the entire grid. Certainly no less than twelve,” added Brown. “But I think as James mentioned, we need to change it once and that’s what we agreed at the FIA Commission, let’s do a review and I think all the teams were in the same spot, that expanding the points is a good thing to do.”

At the moment, the F1 Commission deferred a decision on the scoring format until they meet again in July. But it certainly appears as if momentum is building towards a new system for 2025.

Which, given the views of the teams on the grid, seems like the right thing to do.