Mosley: Fans Should Decide on Medal System

Although FIA have revealed a bunch of measures aimed to reduce costs inside Formula 1 in the upcoming seasons, president Max Mosley insisted a change to the points system was not taken under consideration. Several media reports before the World Motor Sport Council meeting on Friday showed that the international body was considering a switch to a medal system – Olympics style – from the current points system.

However, Mosley confirmed that such a change would only take place should the F1 fans support a revision of the current point system.

“We'll make a market survey and decide based on the results. Extending the points-paying positions to the top eight by reducing the difference between first and second was a mistake, but I'm against changing the points system too often. It disorientates people,” Mosley was quoted by Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport earlier this weekend.

The current system in Formula 1 was brought in 2003, with the Top 8 drivers being awarded points in the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 point pattern. Until 2002 (included), only the first 6 drivers received points in the overall classification.

The medal system idea was brought to the table by F1 supreme Bernie Ecclestone, who argued that racing for medals will see more drivers go for the win rather than settle for certain point-scoring positions. Once only gold, silver and bronze medals will count, everybody would be driving like crazy to at least make the podium, as only the first three positions will make a difference in the overall classification.

“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”

“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,” said Ecclestone.