Ecclestone asks support of F1 fans for gold medal system

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has asked the support of the F1 fans for his gold medal system. The Briton had hoped that his idea would be ratified by the FIA World Motor Sport Council last week, but it has been put on a list of ideas where feedback will be gathered from the public.

Ecclestone declared to the official Formula One site: "My idea is that instead of points we should award medals to the drivers finishing first to third in a race, gold for the winner, silver for the second placed driver and bronze for the driver who comes third. The title will be awarded to the driver who wins the most gold medals in a season and if there were a tie, the number of silver medals won would be taken into account (and if still tied, it would be decided by bronze medals and so on)."

To convince the fans to support his idea, Bernie said: "It will make Formula One a much more exciting spectacle because it will incentivise drivers to race to win. We should see much more overtaking, drivers will take more chances and they will race each other all the way to the chequered flag. At the moment, quite often we see drivers settling for second, third or fourth position, and the race can be dull in the final stint after the last round of pit stops. The drivers aren’t to blame, they’re racers, but the scoring system forces them to be too conservative. As things are, if they want to take the title, it is better to settle for a few, safe points rather than chase down the guy in front and risk going home with no points.

"But this is Formula One, the pinnacle of world motorsport, and only the best driver should win the title. Being a Formula One world champion is not about being a consistent and reliable runner-up. It’s about racing hard, taking chances and not settling for second best."