A Q&A with Bernie at formula1.com:
Q: You have suggested gold medals should be introduced. How would that work?
Bernie Ecclestone: My idea is that instead of points we should award medals to the drivers finishing first to third in a race, gold for the winner, silver for the second placed driver and bronze for the driver who comes third.
Q: So how will the drivers’ championship be decided?
BE: The title will be awarded to the driver who wins the most gold medals in a season and if there were a tie, the number of silver medals won would be taken into account (and if still tied, it would be decided by bronze medals and so on).
Q: What is behind the idea?
BE: Well, quite simply, it will make Formula One a much more exciting spectacle because it will incentivise drivers to race to win. We should see much more overtaking, drivers will take more chances and they will race each other all the way to the chequered flag. At the moment, quite often we see drivers settling for second, third or fourth position, and the race can be dull in the final stint after the last round of pit stops. The drivers aren’t to blame, they’re racers, but the scoring system forces them to be too conservative. As things are, if they want to take the title, it is better to settle for a few, safe points rather than chase down the guy in front and risk going home with no points.
But this is Formula One, the pinnacle of world motorsport, and only the best driver should win the title. Being a Formula One world champion is not about being a consistent and reliable runner-up. It’s about racing hard, taking chances and not settling for second best. Last year, Hamilton was leading the drivers’ championship before he had even secured his maiden win. Likewise, after Canada this year, Kubica led the drivers’ championship on points even though Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen had all won more races. Lewis and Robert are both extremely talented, but I don’t think the system should produce that kind of result. It shouldn’t be possible for someone to be crowned world champion without winning a single race, but that really could happen unless we change the scoring system.
Q: Are you suggesting that the constructors’ championship be decided in the same way?
BE: No, I think we should keep that as it is, awarding points for places 1 to 8 as we do now. For the teams, constructor points are purely a financial matter as they determine a team’s share of the annual prize fund. Fighting for a point or two really matters to the teams further down the grid and I don’t see any reason to change that. Back in 2003, we extended the points system down to eighth place which was great for the teams, especially the smaller ones, but it aggravated the problem with the drivers scoring system because by increasing the number of points for coming second from 6 to 8, we made the step from first to second place too shallow. That year, Michael (Schumacher) won the title from Kimi (Raikkonen) by only two points but Michael had won six races whereas Kimi had won just one race. Kimi is a great driver and a natural racer but I don’t think it would have been right had he won the title in that situation, however it nearly happened.
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Q: You have suggested gold medals should be introduced. How would that work?
Bernie Ecclestone: My idea is that instead of points we should award medals to the drivers finishing first to third in a race, gold for the winner, silver for the second placed driver and bronze for the driver who comes third.
Q: So how will the drivers’ championship be decided?
BE: The title will be awarded to the driver who wins the most gold medals in a season and if there were a tie, the number of silver medals won would be taken into account (and if still tied, it would be decided by bronze medals and so on).
Q: What is behind the idea?
BE: Well, quite simply, it will make Formula One a much more exciting spectacle because it will incentivise drivers to race to win. We should see much more overtaking, drivers will take more chances and they will race each other all the way to the chequered flag. At the moment, quite often we see drivers settling for second, third or fourth position, and the race can be dull in the final stint after the last round of pit stops. The drivers aren’t to blame, they’re racers, but the scoring system forces them to be too conservative. As things are, if they want to take the title, it is better to settle for a few, safe points rather than chase down the guy in front and risk going home with no points.
But this is Formula One, the pinnacle of world motorsport, and only the best driver should win the title. Being a Formula One world champion is not about being a consistent and reliable runner-up. It’s about racing hard, taking chances and not settling for second best. Last year, Hamilton was leading the drivers’ championship before he had even secured his maiden win. Likewise, after Canada this year, Kubica led the drivers’ championship on points even though Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen had all won more races. Lewis and Robert are both extremely talented, but I don’t think the system should produce that kind of result. It shouldn’t be possible for someone to be crowned world champion without winning a single race, but that really could happen unless we change the scoring system.
Q: Are you suggesting that the constructors’ championship be decided in the same way?
BE: No, I think we should keep that as it is, awarding points for places 1 to 8 as we do now. For the teams, constructor points are purely a financial matter as they determine a team’s share of the annual prize fund. Fighting for a point or two really matters to the teams further down the grid and I don’t see any reason to change that. Back in 2003, we extended the points system down to eighth place which was great for the teams, especially the smaller ones, but it aggravated the problem with the drivers scoring system because by increasing the number of points for coming second from 6 to 8, we made the step from first to second place too shallow. That year, Michael (Schumacher) won the title from Kimi (Raikkonen) by only two points but Michael had won six races whereas Kimi had won just one race. Kimi is a great driver and a natural racer but I don’t think it would have been right had he won the title in that situation, however it nearly happened.
Read more