Alvin's Formula One Blog

It is a foregone conclusion that next season will see a change in the points awarded for races. Since there will be more cars on the grid, the FIA has seen it fit to increase points collection positions from 8 to 10 and the points collected for each position also increases. This is how it works out: 1st: 25 2nd: 20 3rd: 15 4th: 10 5th: 8 6th: 6 7th: 5 8th: 3 9th: 2 10th: 1 This probably will make it more interesting but it would be a chore to be calculating the points and drivers positions on the fly. We'd definitely need a paper and pen handy everytime during a race.

Monday 23rd March 2009 Bernie Ecclestone insists the 'winner-takes-all' Championship system "will be" used in 2010 even if the team's aren't in favour. Last week the FIA shocked the F1 community when they announced that this year's Championship would be decided on the number of race wins. But 48 hours later motorsport's governing body were forced to back down after the Formula One Teams' Association questioned the validity of the FIA's ruling. And even though the teams are clearly not in favour of the plan, Ecclestone insists it will be implemented next season. "It will be supported by the FIA and it will be in the regulations. So when people enter the championship, that's what the regulation will be," he told the Daily Telegraph. "To make any changes when the entries have closed you have to get the unanimous agreement of all the people that have entered. ...

Friday 20th March 2009 The FIA have averted a potential row with the Formula One Teams' Association by agreeing to defer their controversial new 'winner-takes-all' system until 2010. Just two hours after FOTA voiced an official protest to the plan, whereby the driver with most race wins becomes F1 champion, motor sport's world governing body reacted swiftly. A FIA statement read: "On March 17, the FIA World Motor Sport Council unanimously rejected FOTA's proposed amendment to the points system for the Formula One Drivers' Championship. "The 'winner-takes-all' proposal made by the commercial rights holder (Bernie Ecclestone, who had been told the teams were in favour) was then approved. "If, for any reason, the Formula One teams do not now agree with the new system, its implementation will be deferred until 2010." Source : Planet F1

Friday 20th March 2009 Lewis Hamilton has criticised the FIA's controversial decisions this week. Motor sport's world governing body announced on Tuesday that from this year the Formula One Champion will be the driver with the most race wins, turning 59 years of history on its head. A voluntary budget cap is also to come into force for next year as the FIA seek to further slash costs and attract new teams. Teams will then have a choice between freedom to spend, but forced to adhere to the current technical regulations, or enjoy a freedom of innovation, but within the £30million cap. There is the threat of a two-tier Formula One that will surely only confuse fans as some teams next year will be running under one set of rules, and other teams racing via a different system. Hamilton pulled no punches as he said: "I think it's a shame what's happening to Formula One. "It's hard to believe t...

Thursday 19th March 2009 Two-time World Champ Fernando Alonso has warned the FIA risks alienating fans of F1 in the wake of sweeping regulation changes. The FIA's World Motor Sport Council has ruled that from this season onwards the drivers' title will be decided by race wins rather than points, while in a separate move the FIA decreed that from 2010 teams would be given the option of adhering to a budget cap of £30million. The moves have already prompted criticism from the Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA), who have accused the FIA of acting "unilaterally" in their rejection of both FOTA's own proposal to revise the points structure in F1 and their plans to reduce costs in the sport by 50% from 2010. Alonso, who won the Drivers' title with Renault in 2005 and 2006, has joined the chorus of disquiet over the FIA's actions, calling for the budget cap rules in particular to be "re...

Thursday 19th March 2009 Jenson Button reckons F1's new 'winner-takes-all' system is going to do nothing but confuse the public. Earlier this week the FIA's World Motor Sport Council ratified a new scoring system for the sport that will see the driver with the most wins, and not the one with the most points, clinch the World title. And although F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone believes this will force drivers to race harder, Button thinks it's just going to confuse Joe Public. "I think the public will struggle to understand why a driver with 60 points can become Champion instead of the one who has 100," he told the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. "I understand the logic behind it and I find it interesting. "For sure it's an incentive to always go for the win, but it seems risky too - after nine races, we could find ourselves with a driver that has already won the title and can s...

Thursday 19th March 2009 Michael Schumacher has condemned the new Formula One rule which will mean the Drivers' title going to the man with the most race wins. Such a system last season would have seen Ferrari's Felipe Massa crowned Champion rather than McLaren's Lewis Hamilton. Former Ferrari driver Schumacher does not agree with the new rule, particularly with it being introduced so close to the season-opener in Australia in a little over a week. "I cannot imagine those changes help F1, especially regarding the new system to find the Champion," he said. "I cannot see how it makes sense to eventually have a World Champion who has less points than the driver coming in second, even if I also think it is a good move to try to strengthen the wnner's position. "In general we should also make sure that F1 remains the top series of motorsport, displaying its competition also on the highest...

Wednesday 18th March 2009 ...the FIA go and spoil the party. If testing times are anything to go by we're on the verge of one of the most unpredictable and competitive seasons in F1. McLaren's lack of early season form - Brawn's phoenix-like rise from near extinction - BMW and Toyota's winter testing form all add to the intense focus and excitement building for Melbourne. And then the FIA go and ruin it. Yesterday's announcement that the FIA would not accept the points scoring system favoured by a global F1 audience was yet another slap in the face from the patricians in charge. The 'we're on the side of the fan, we know what is best for them' arrogance displayed by Max Mosley and the WMSC is breathtaking. Though there is a virtue to having a World Champion who's won the most races, what F1 fans don't want to see is teams manipulating results with team orders. Under the FIA's new ...