F1 teams have supported the proposal to change the World Championship’s points system as the F1 Commission is set to hold talks this week.
The F1 teams are scheduled to hold discussions with the FIA and FOM about the possibility of changing the points system for 2025 by scaling up point scores down to 12th place, according to a report by Motorsport.com ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.
According to the report, points will be awarded from first to 12th place. The points for the top 7 will remain unchanged, but there will be a slight change for positions 8 and below, with a 5-4-3-2-1 point system in place of a 4-2-1-0-0.
The teams’ suggestions that more midfield teams having the capacity to score points would add value to F1 sparked the conversation. The top five teams are conspicuously ranked in the top 10 given their superior speed, making it a challenge for the remaining five teams to score points regularly.
The midfield is currently extremely competitive with three teams—Alpine, Williams, and Sauber—all sitting without a point after four races.
The points structure has been designed such that the top teams won’t be negatively affected from a competitive standpoint, nor will it result in them scoring higher, which could raise the annual points-based entrance fee they have to pay to the FIA.
The proposal needs to be approved by five outfits and get backing from the FIA and FOM to proceed with execution for the 2025 season. It is also possible for teams to speak in public one way and react differently in a vote, but the signs point to the fact that even top-ranking teams are unlikely to take action against the change.
Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur was one of those in agreement: “I’m not against. And coming from Alfa Romeo, I perfectly understand sometimes the frustration that you are doing a mega weekend, but if there is no DNF in front of you then you finish P11 and the reward is zero.
“[At the moment] you can finish P11 or P20 and it is the same, so I can understand the frustration for this.”
Teams contending for the lower-tier points spots in the midfield are particularly keen to witness the change. RB team boss Laurent Mekies said that he saw no drawbacks to the new approach and believed it would benefit F1 in general.
“Of course, I will support that,” Mekies said. “There are no backmarkers any more. There are six OEMs in F1, plus Red Bull Racing, so it’s like seven top teams.
“Even the bottom five teams are large organisations now and it’s very difficult to explain to the outside world, to our partners, and to our fans, that we battle for a P11 that actually grants zero points.
“If you look at the level of competitiveness of the top five teams and the reliability level of the cars, it means that most of the race you’re battling theoretically for zero points, and we don’t think this is right.
“We also think it’s more meritocratic because, if you score points up until P12, you will avoid the effect where if something completely stunning happens and somebody scores a P5 or P4 in the rain, it means the other guys can stay home for 10 races.
“We think it’s ticking all the boxes with virtually no downside, so hopefully it will go through.”
Haas team boss Ayao Komatsu also supported the change saying: “What’s the downside? Currently, we have three teams with zero points and I don’t think that’s good for sport.
“If somebody was awarded points for P11, P12, there will be less people with zero points. So, I think it’s clearer for the fans and for the motivation of everybody working in a team as well.
“It’s much better to come out with P12 with one point, P11 with two points – it’s a reward.”
