During the week, Bernie Ecclestone has insisted that his medals idea will be in place for the 2009 season. I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I am struggling to decide whether I would want to see it happen.
For anyone who isn't aware, Mr. Ecclestone is proposing that the current points system should be scrapped, and a system where the driver who wins the most races in a season is the champion. If there is a tie, then it would go down to who has the most second places, third places, and so on.
Take the 2008 season, for example. Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton would have gone into Brazil with five wins each, and both drivers would be fighting for the win and, ultimately, the championship. Under the medals scheme, Felipe Massa would be this year's world champion.
However, I have already noticed a few problems with this idea. The biggest being that there are only a handful of teams who are able to win races and challenge for the podium positions.
What happens to the smaller teams who are unable to challenge for the top positions? They will come away from the season with nothing, as the chance of a sneaky point for eighth won't be available.
The new system would also penalize consistency. For example, a driver who finished in second place at every race of the season would be classified behind a driver who won one race and crashed out of the rest.
- B/R Ticket Guide
In my eyes, this is not right. Reliability is an important factor in Formula 1 and, as the old motto goes, to finish first, first you have to finish.
Team orders would also start to be used much more often, as a higher position, or win, will be much more important. Team orders may be banned, but that didn't stopped Ferrari in Shanghai. Using of them will become more widespread throughout the field.
Recently, the Formula 1 website Pitpass had a viewer's poll to see how many people agreed with Bernie's proposal. About 95 percent said they disagree; whatever way you look at it, that's a vast majority opposed to the idea.
Yet there are two sides to every story, and I can see some benefits of the medals idea. The main goal of any driver in the field is to win, and therefore it makes sense that the driver who wins the most races in a season has done the best job.
The 2003 season provides a good example here. Kimi Raikkonen managed to keep the championship battle going to the final race, despite only winning one race compared to Michael Schumacher's six.
It also provides an incentive for a driver to push for the win, and not settle for a safe second place. In theory, overtaking should increase, and there should be many more close battles on the track.
But, no driver concedes a race deliberately, and it is often only when they know they have no chance of winning that they settle for a lower position, so I'm unsure about this point.
The use of this system would be very similar to how the Olympics are run at the minute, with the country winning the most gold medals coming first. Then again, the Olympics is a huge event, with many small countries being able to pick up a handful of medals in the obscure sports.
Then again, this season, fourteen drivers managed to score podiums, so it might not be as difficult for the midfield teams as I first thought.
Despite these reasons, I would rather see the points system stay; there are too many problems with the medals idea. I can see some of the potential benefits, but Formula 1 is more than just winning, especially for the smaller teams. Anyway, points have provided some great championship battles since 1950, so why change it now?
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about 1 month ago
I hadn't even considered the penalising of consistency, thats a really good point.
This gives almost no chance to anyone but Kimi, Massa, Lewis and Heikki winning the title, unless BMW make huge strides and can challenge for more then 3 wins in a season.
about 1 month ago
Bernie is going mad, I swear it. If Ferrari do not benefit from this one little bit, watch it fall away. Just ridiculous that, despite Lewis being the better and more consistent driver across the season, they just cannot accept defeat.
Massa only had that total because of the Spa controversy, so it is hardly as if he actually earned the whole six victories is it?
about 1 month ago
Clearly there would be a need for the FIA to address stewarding issues, for the reason Michael gives.
about 1 month ago
Why must there be so many rule changes in one year? I mean, KERS, Slicks and the hideously fugly undescribable (especially the small thin rear wing) new aerodynamic packages is already too much. Now ecclestone wants the medal system. Thats just stupid. What other motorsport out there uses the medal system? If you qualify in the bottom half of the grid, you don't have much of a chance to make it into the top three so whats the point in continuing the race? F1 is just contradicting it's going green. F1 has gone whack.
about 1 month ago
Those finishing out of the top 3 will still be awarded points so they will still be fighting for position.
Also the old points system will be used for the manufacturers Championship. The one that matters in my opinion.
about 1 month ago
I think it is a ridiculous idea, favouring the top 5 teams at most and leaving the rest behind. Creating such an environement will only bring in more accidents as drivers will be fighting for only 3 spots available. Medals are fine for one off events like olympics and so, not for season long competitions. Can you imagine Manchester, chelsea or liverpool going for gold, silver and bronze....
What about team orders ? and in-fighting in the garage as team pushes more and more for the driver with more wins at the beggining of the season... Eddie Jordan is right when he says : "There has not been enough thought put into this and for him to say that it comes with the full approval of all the teams - I'm sorry, I just don't believe it."
Bruno
www.f1-in-singapore.blogspot.com
about 1 month ago
Didn't the FIA/Bernie already kill the 1953-1992 World Sportscar Championship?
about 1 month ago
I agree completely. Medals would not work and be disastrous for the future of F1. Teams like Honda, Red Bull and Toro Rosso would stand no chance
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