2018 F1 Championship - Old Points System

FOREWORD: After some time off to clear my head, I’ve decided to come back with a bang - the championship run on an old points system that was implemented in the 1960, modified in the late ‘80s and then ditched ten years ago. I’d like to thank you all for your kind words. Enjoy!

So far, the 2018 F1 championship has provided us with some great races, some boring ones and some controversial moments. Some still maintain that the racing was better in the old days, when the points system was a lot tighter, and the fight for those points was more dramatic.

The new system basically allows those smaller or slower teams to gain points. They’re not exactly going to win the championship with those points, but at least they have some to their name.

There have been many different points scoring systems used in Formula 1. The current system, where everyone down to 10th places scores points. The system I will be using here will be the system first brought in back in 1962. However, the system was adapted by Alain Prost, who complained that 9 points just simply “Would not do” for a win, so he convinced the FIA to award 10 points for a win. This system was ditched in 2008 for the ‘Top 8’ system - the ‘Top 10’ system has been in use since 2010.

On the left is the old Top-6 system, which is what I will be using, and the new one on the right. You can see that the points system is much more tight and the fight for points would make the races more dramatic. The only problem really with using the old system in modern day F1 is that the top three teams - Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull - can readily score points. Red Bull have had a few problems in qualifying and retirements during the races, so they may not have finished in the best positions and scored the best points.

Here’s how the 2018 championship looks with this system.

There is a massive drop from 6th in the championship to 7th. Like I said above, this is mainly due to the sheer speed of the top three teams. Not only does this demonstrate that the top three have skyrocketed away, but that it is very hard to score a top 6 position. Nico Hulkenberg is leading what I like to call the ‘B-Class Championship’ - this being for all cars except the top three teams, with Magnussen just behind.

Charles Leclerc scored an impressive P6 in Baku at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, scoring him a single point in this old-style championship. This also highlights the fact that only 15 of the 20 starters have scored within the top six.

The only drivers not to have scored points in the top six are Ericsson (Sauber), Stroll and Sirotkin (Williams), Hartley (Toro Rosso) and Vandoorne (McLaren). This means that they have not scored any points in the old style championship.

But what about the constructors championship?

The constructors championship looks exactly how you’d imagine, with Mercedes at the front with a sizable lead and with Williams at the bottom with no points at all. Of course, this is fully representative of the actual championship, just only with less points.

Such a shame that Williams haven’t had a top 6 finish this year. It was only a few years ago that they were challenging for pole positions and podiums, even wins. The 2017 regulation changes really did screw them over, as they now reside at the back of the grid.

And that’s about it folks, the current championship with old points. What’s your opinion on this? Should FOM bring it back? Leave a comment below.

Thanks all for reading,mdrive safe,
675LT_ftw