Published on
March 21, 2009 in
Sports.
Just a few days ago FIA had unanimously taken a decision to alter the way a champion is chosen at the end of the F1 season. They voted in favour of adopting a slightly modified version of Bernie’s medal proposal. However after being slammed by all the F1 personalities and the fans alike, they have decided to revert back to the old system for now. The declaration states that in case FIA and FOTA are unable to come to a mutual understanding regarding the point system, previous years system shall be used while a new system being devised to be adopted in the subsequent season.
Prior to the recently concluded FIA meeting, the FOTA had met and unanimously agreed upon an alternative scoring system wherein the first three places were divided by a margin of 3 each as compared to the 2 earlier. This gave greater value to the driver finishing on top, scoring 12 points. The FIA though had different plans. They rejected the proposed system and instead adopted the one suggested by Bernie. This did not go down well with the F1 teams. Almost everyone spoke their minds against it.
Consistency was a trait not being rewarded by this system. A consistent driver who always manages to come second or third has no chance of winning the championship. And when the fans voiced their dismay over the change, catalysed by fears of a split in the F1 grid, the FIA had no chance but to go back.
Thus we have the same old scoring system of 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for the 2009 system as well.
Published on
March 18, 2009 in
Sports.
The Formula One racing’s governing body has taken the decision to overhaul the current system of choosing the champion to replace it with the medal system as earlier proposed by Bernie. Not many F1 personalities were in favour of the medal system, but apparently a general survey of F1 fans helped take up the decision.
Earlier we had the scoring syste wherein the driver taking the chequered flag is awarded 10 points, 8 to the next, 6 to the third and one less for each position thereafter. At the end of the season, the driver with the maximum points would be crowned the champion.
The basic flaw in this system is that sometimes the drivers are contend settling for 8 points instead of pushing hard for the 10 points. The reasoning always was that 2 points less is still better than no points at all. Also, in the final race of the previous season, where Massa needed to win the race and Lewis to finish 6th or lower for Massa to be crowned champion, McLaren played it safe by having Lewis drive a riskfree race to just finish fifth. That was so not like a champions drive and in my opinion Lewis should be ashamed of himself. Yet, what was done was done.
This incidence prompted Bernie to propose the medal system. In this system, the only criteria for choosing a champion is the number of races he has won, instead of the points he has accrued throughtout the season. In case of a tie, the points shall be taken into consideration. Had this system been in effect the last year, it would have been Massa with 6 race wins as the champion instead of Lewis, who managed to win just 5 of the races.
The advantage of this system is that the drivers now have to go for a race victory. You cannot sit back and let your adversary win while you could have pushed him. The races should now become more interesting, particularly the overtakes amongst the top drivers should increase.
Though I was never in for a lot of rule changes, but all these changes add a new dimension to the technical sport. Everyone starts equally, and all the established rules have been tempered with. Definitely more the reason to watch season. How I await the Melbourne GP.
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