Formula One Racing - Points System

Points System

Points are awarded to drivers and teams exclusively on where they finish in a race. The winner receives 25 points, the second place finisher 18 points, with 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 points for positions 3 through 10. If a race has to be abandoned before 75% of the planned distance has been completed all points are halved. In a dead heat, prizes and points are added together and shared equally for all those drivers who tie. The winner of the annual championship is the driver (or team, for the Constructors' Championship) with the most points. If the number of points is the same, priority is given to the driver with more wins. If that is the same it will be decided on the most second places and so on.

Historically, the races were scored on the basis of a five-place tally: i.e. via an 8-6-4-3-2 scoring system, with the holder of the fastest race lap also receiving a bonus point. In 1961, the scoring was revised to give the winner nine points instead of eight, and the single point awarded for fastest lap was given for sixth place for the first time the previous year.

In 1991, the points system was again revised to give the victor 10 points, with all other scorers recording the same 6-4-3-2-1 result. This was thought to have been something of a knee-jerk reaction to the spate of drivers who had won the championship despite scoring fewer victories than their nearest challenger.

In 2003, the FIA again revised the scoring system to apportion points to the first eight classified finishers (a classified finisher must complete 90% of race distance) on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. The winner of the world championship is the driver who accumulates the most points throughout the course of the season.

At certain periods in F1's history, the world champion has been determined by virtue of the "best 7 scores" in each "half" of the world championship, meaning that drivers have had to "discard" lower scores in either half of the season. This was done in order to equalise the footings of teams which may not have had the wherewithal to compete in all events. With the advent of the Concorde Agreements, this practice has been discontinued, though it did feature prominently in several world championships through the 1970s and 1980s.

The change in the awarding of world championship points has rendered the comparison of historical teams and drivers to current ones largely ineffective. For instance, Michael Schumacher is widely credited with being the most successful GP driver of all time. While his statistics are very impressive and easily outstrip those of his nearest competitor, it is worth noting that his points tally vs points available, and winning percentage of grands prix entered, do not significantly exceed those of Juan Manuel Fangio, whom he recently dethroned as winner of the most World Championships. As with most other sports, it is very difficult to compare stars of different eras owing to the changes in the sport and regulations.