F1 defers decision over points system tweaks

Following a push by F1’s midfield teams to extend the current points structure to cover the top 12, the topic was put on the agenda for Thursday’s F1 Commission meeting attended by the FIA, F1 and all 10 teams.

For the change to go through, it needed support from five of the current teams. 

Several smaller outfits were in favour of the change when quizzed at last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, while Red Bull’s Christian Horner and Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur also appeared to support the motion or at least be impartial to it, as the proposal doesn’t affect the top teams.

But it has now emerged that at the F1 Commission meeting it was agreed that more time was needed to analyse the implications of the change.

With still plenty of time on the clock to make a final decision and adopt the new system in the FIA’s 2025 F1 sporting regulations, it was agreed that there is no rush to make a quick call.

Instead, the matter will be investigated more thoroughly and be put back on the agenda for the next F1 Commission meeting later this year.

The idea to expand the points system was put back on the agenda as a result of F1’s competitive pecking order in 2024, which has seen a chasm between the top and bottom five outfits.

That means the rest of the grid is fighting over scraps and midfield teams aren’t rewarded for beating their direct rivals unless they manage to breach the top 10.

After five rounds in the 2024 season, the latter three teams have yet to score a single point.

“It’s putting a plaster on a big cut, let’s call it like this,” said Ocon. “It’s a way of helping the current situation, I think.

“It would definitely work because we would have been scoring points…