The new 2021 F1 point system explained to determine the winner of the Drivers’ Championship
In F1, the drivers win points after every race which signifies their position in the Drivers’ standings. The leader after the final round at the end of the season wins the World Championship.
After every GP, the top 10 drivers, currently, secure points in the following sequence:
If two drivers have scored exactly the same number of points, the one with the most victories in the season wins the Championship.
The Constructors’ Championship is a simultaneous table of the cumulative total of both drivers of a team. The battle between the teams go down to the wire after all rounds complete. This results in very fine margins between the Constructors.
Additionally, the champions are understood to be winning around $66million (£48million) while last place gets around $15million (£11million).
Within the top 10, the driver with the fastest time set in the race wins a bonus point which gets added to the Drivers’ and Constructors standings. The extra point is very crucial, as it could be the narrowest of margins to obtaining a higher position.
In the current 2021 season, Red Bull lead the pack with both drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez having won a Grand Prix accumulating 215 points. They follow current Champions Mercedes’ who have 178 points.
The drivers’ standings at the top is very challenging as 7-time Lewis Hamilton aims to win his record-breaking 8th World Drivers’ Championship. However, he trails Max Verstappen who holds a slender 12 point lead with 131 points.
F1 moves to Austria this week for a double header with the Styrian and Austrian GP. The track is home to the leaders’ Red Bull, who will want to make the most of the occasion with a sweet victory.
The addition of the bonus point is a welcome sight and a throwback from the glory days. It is an introduction after the owners’ Liberty Media made a significant change to the point system. It was abolished in 1960, the year Jack Brabham was the winner at the end of the season.
Additionally at that time, only top 5 drivers were awarded points for the Drivers’ standings. In 1961, the GP winner was given 9 points which further increased to 10 in 1991. The biggest change came in 2010, when a decision was made to award the top 10 points. The winner of the race got 25 points for his win.
The move to increase the point tally is a positive one as we have seen closer title fights. The most memorable in recent past was in 2016, as Nico Rosberg nicked Hamilton by 5 points to win his first and only World Championship.
Earlier, the gap between first and second did not erase margins and was a major conflict during the season. Now, with a gap of 8 points (including the fastest lap for the winner) it helps in making the competition stiffer.
With the change in the old rules, we have yet seen the dominance of Mercedes and Red Bull for the last decade who have won the last 11 World Constructors’ Championship in F1 history.
However, it will be interesting to see how this 2021 season pans out with a lot of twists and drama along the way.
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