Martin Brundle slams new F1 points system proposal as 'lucky dip'
Martin Brundle isn't a fan of the proposed F1 points system that could see the top 12 finishers awarded points.
Legendary F1 commentator Martin Brundle has slammed the latest proposal to award points to the top 12 finishers in a grand prix.
The idea was mooted during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend amid the competitiveness of the top five teams.
Currently, Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin tend to lock-out the top 10 spots on the grid given their advantage over the rest of the field.
That means the midfield teams have found it difficult to score points barring unreliability or Lance Stroll underperforming.
As a result one proposal put forward is to award points from 1st down to 12th to give smaller teams something to fight for.
However, Brundle isn’t keen on the idea.
“Formula One world championship points must be hard won and treasured,” he wrote on his X account. “Valued. Not some kind of lucky dip where everyone wins a prize.”
What is the proposed F1 points system?
| The proposal that F1 teams will discuss | ||
| Drivers' finishing position | Points currently awarded | The new proposal |
| 1 | 25 | 25 |
| 2 | 18 | 18 |
| 3 | 15 | 15 |
| 4 | 12 | 12 |
| 5 | 10 | 10 |
| 6 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | 6 | 6 |
| 8 | 4 | 5 |
| 9 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | 1 | 3 |
| 11 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | 0 | 1 |
| Fastest lap | 1 | 1 |
Is it likely to happen?
The proposal seems to have been met with overwhelming support from a number of team bosses.
RB team principal Laurent Mekies believes it would only result in positives for F1 as a whole.
He told Autosport: “Of course, I will support that. “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 boss Ayao Komatsu doesn’t see any downsides either.
“What’s the downside? Currently, we have three teams with zero points and I don't think that's good for sport,” he explained.
“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.”
Ferrari’s Frederic Vasseur is also not “against” the proposal.
The Ferrari boss said: “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.”
