Points system to be scrapped for 2009

[Scotracer]

I can't imagine this being held for too long, It stands a chance of not working at all with a calendar with an even number of races. Imagine 2 racers getting 9 wins and 9 2nd places each.
How would they figure out who had won then? First time for 2 WDC in the same year?

There are higher odds of both drivers getting struck by lightning. The closest we got to that was McLaren in '88, and even then they didnt finish every race 1-2. Why do people want to base the points system on things that have a very low probability of happening? The driver with the most wins in all probability is the best combo of driver&car.

Reductio ad absurdum

[alelanza]

Pretty strong reaction from Trulli, glad to see some drivers still speak their mind. Well if anything a lot of them have after these news.

“It seems to be that Formula 1 wants to die,” the Toyota star told Italian newspaper La Stampa, “and we will all have to go and race in some other championship.

http://www.crash.net/formula+one/news/1 ... o_die.html

[ISLAMATRON]

I can't imagine this being held for too long, It stands a chance of not working at all with a calendar with an even number of races. Imagine 2 racers getting 9 wins and 9 2nd places each.
How would they figure out who had won then? First time for 2 WDC in the same year?

There are higher odds of both drivers getting struck by lightning. The closest we got to that was McLaren in '88, and even then they didnt finish every race 1-2. Why do people want to base the points system on things that have a very low probability of happening? The driver with the most wins in all probability is the best combo of driver&car.

Reductio ad absurdum

Absurd indeed

[andartop]

I think this will affect Ferrari more than any other team. They have two top class drivers and potential WC in 2009, both drivers are going to be fighting (pushing) for the wins if they are in a 1-2 position, even after the final pit stop. This will put pressure on the team to decide who they will promote to number 1 earlier in the season and may cause in fighting. Teams like Renault and McLaren are more likely to tell HK and NP to hold postion or even move over, that wont happen at Ferrari.

On the other hand, if you fluff qualifying, and end up at the back of the grid, you could opt to retire and save you engine for the next race and gain an extra ~30-50hp without the need of KERS.

Whose taking bets that we will be back to points next year

No it won't! Did you forget that Team Orders are illegal?
No pressure there: if Kimi repeats himself for what he did last year, Massa is the obvious choice. If he actually wakes up, they will back him as he gets paid more..

[nae]

it is however a good point

if 1 driver wins the first 3 races and his team mate is 2nd
then thats it for the year team pecking order wise

where as last year he would only have 30 points to his team mates 24
a not insurmountable points gap.

this works out worse if its 3 wins from 5 and team mate 2nd in them all
30 points to 40 (assuming dnf or none points scores for driver 1, even if
driver 1 is 3rd in the other 2 its 42 to 40 points)

so now even more than before it is extra important to win early in the year
to sort the in-team battle

true enough team orders are banned, this may encourage team mates to ignore
team principles and go against the wishes of the team by attacking for the win
and risking both retiring

there is nothing to loose if you are 2nd and make a risky attempt for 1st
you get it right you win you get it wrong you loose nothing and in fact could
gain by preventing the other from winning

not that drivers are as cynical as i am of course

[Crabbia]

just a thought guys, as it is i feel its going to be a runnaway season; three quick reasons for that:

1. new regs... it always happens when new regulations (see mclaren circa 1998 and 1999 due to dimension changes, and the begining of MS domination, due to the tyre wars and TC) are introduced that one team gets it right and has phenomenal pace, and the other teams are playing 'catch up'... this problem leads me to point 2....

2. the teams cant play 'catch up' as well as previous years because of the in season testing ban, the curtailed wind tunnel time and all the other restrictions.

3. Incorrect tyre sizes, another faboulous FIA F.U. expect to see huge tyre graining issues on the rear on one team to stand out with all the performance and durability.

so all in all my prediction is the championship will be over 5 races before the end, at the very least all we can hope for is an equal driver pairing at a certain team gives us some entertainment. So if mclaren are hot at the begining of the season were screwed, Hammy will clean his shoes with Kovi, whereas a better balanced driver pair like kimi/massa might cause a two horse race, and provide us with atleast a modicum of entertainment.

Its a bleak outlook, i know, but mark my words this season is gonna be short lived in terms of a championship decider.

if i lived anywear in Europe I'd be booking my tickets for Valencia...

[donskar]

Very good post, shaddock. I thought about that on the way to work this morning. With 2nd in a sense worthless for the WDC, it's going to be 1) win, 2) take out the leader, or 3) park it and save the hardware. Yes, I think Ferrari could suffer the most. The new point system begs for team orders. (You now need one fast driver to win and one Trulli-type driver to act as a mobile chicane -- could be an opening for Coulthard to return )

And as another member said, you could focus all your efforts on a handful of races that favor your car/driver combination, win 3,4, maybe 5 races and coast -- or block any potential competitor -- the rest of the way.

The ultimate scenario: [your favorite driver's name here] goes into the final race of the season TWO wins ahead of his nearest competitor. What does he do? He COULD qualifiy dead last, idle around for one lap, then pull into the pits with an "electrical fault." Makes sense, no? After all it would save the team a lot of money . . . And that is a central convern isn't? Or WTF IS the point?

Of course the sport will suffer, but that's of no concern to the $!#$!@ in power.

[Kester]

I understand your point of a driver not bothering with the last race because he is 2 wins ahead, but when has that ever happened before?

Schumi for instance raced every race, even if he had one the championship several races before.

Just because someone is WDC doesn't mean they stop racing that year.

[jddh1]

I've not read anything about the Constructors Championship. I'm assuming the points will count for the rankings. It would be weird to have the team with most "gold medals" win it all if they have a lame second driver. (Think of it as if Renault wins WCC because of Alonso's medals, but, say Ferrari has more points because Kimi and 'Lipe have better placings between them.)

[zgred]

I understand your point of a driver not bothering with the last race because he is 2 wins ahead, but when has that ever happened before?

Schumi for instance raced every race, even if he had one the championship several races before.

Just because someone is WDC doesn't mean they stop racing that year.

They will not because there is also Constructors Championship. So if one of the title is still not granted there will be a fight.
Our beloved Bernie is sure that this perfect system lead to excitement and big battle for wining because it is eliminating strategic 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 place. And this is not so beautiful story because lack of the one strategy will rise lots of different ones and we can not be sure on the result. If system from this year was not perfect why not increase gap, why not increase it every year until it will be good? It could lead to medals eventually. Why we need so much drama so close to the first race? Bernie is making smoke screen for something else, budget, FOTA fight?
Refering to the strategies this system creates even bigger reward for such a shameful attitude (IMHO) as i.e. Schumacher presented in the past (94) – driving into the virtual WDC while You are out of the options.
Furthermore lack of the consistency reward which should characterize Champion is strange. And maybe this sounds childish but table of Drivers Championships will look silly :] Loooooots of zeros…

[SpookTheHamster]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73809

Potentially some good news. Seems like it might be against the FIAs own rules to make changes this late

[andartop]

Of course my comment that Team Orders are illegal was ironic, hence the ... I think it would be best just to go back to the good old 10-6-4-3-2-1 system. Would solve all the problems and wouldn't create any new ones!

[timbo]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73809

Potentially some good news. Seems like it might be against the FIAs own rules to make changes this late

VERY interesting. So I wonder even more!
What it was - a brainfade of Max?

[vall]

That would be a big blow for the maFIA and BE

[andartop]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73809

Potentially some good news. Seems like it might be against the FIAs own rules to make changes this late

That's the first good news in a while. Now, if we could only find a way to extend article 199 so that the FIA cannot announce ANY changes for at least 1 YEAR before each season..