Hamilton, Schumacher slam new F1 scoring rules
It appears that Formula One's new scoring system has few friends in the pitlane. Renault's Fernando Alonso and Toyota's Jarno Trulli have already blasted it, and now reigning champ Lewis Hamilton from McLaren and former champion Michael Schumacher have similarly disparaged the new system that awards the championship to whichever driver wins the most races. Hamilton went so far as to say, "I think it's a shame what's happening to Formula 1." We should note that had the new scoring system been in place last year, Ferrari's Felipe Massa would have been the driver's champ instead of Hamilton.
Schumacher said he liked the idea of making wins worth more, but couldn't imagine, "how it makes sense to eventually have a world champion who has less points than the driver coming in second." From our seat, Schumacher does have a point – a driver who collects 90 points with nine race wins and eight DNFs could beat the guy with 110 points who only won eight races. If nothing else, we can be thankful that, as Hamilton said, "Whatever the points system, I know that all Formula One drivers will always race our hearts out." Bring on the season already.
[Source: Daily F1]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
CJ 1:03PM (3/20/2009)
I agree with Schumi, wins matter. And, also with Hamilton- it is a shame where F1 is going.
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superman211 2:34PM (3/20/2009)
Yeah it's supposed to be fun, not an over regulated political mire.
ken_aisin 2:44PM (3/20/2009)
@Peter: "Even Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has opposed the new rules, so I don't believe that Ferrari favoritism is the motive."
Well, maybe he doesn't mean what he says, and doesn't say what he means. Ferrari favoritism is not something new in F1.
@Franz:
Everyone knows Max hates the McLaren team for some reasons. He has always found ways to clobber McLaren with his double standards. To be honest, F1 desperately needs new leadership. The stakeholders must axe Max and Bernie a.s.a.p. to bring credibility back to the sport.
Kyle 1:08PM (3/20/2009)
It was a shame what FIA did to lewis... too much ferrari favoritism...
The sport should be even playing field for all. The points system helps out other constructors who might not win that many races but prove to be consistent throughout the season.
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Peter 1:42PM (3/20/2009)
Even Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has opposed the new rules, so i don't believe that Ferrari favoritism is the motive.
Franz 2:03PM (3/20/2009)
It makes you wonder though, doesn't it? Kimi won the WDC by one point in 2007... just like Lewis did, and there wasn't even a peep from the FIA on revising the scoring. I never once heard anyone else complain about Kimi's win either. Not even Hamilton fans. But Lewis wins by a point and all of a sudden everyone's an F1 expert and change is needed. I'm not entirely sure what their motivation is, but it is very obvious that there is some hidden agenda. And Max Mosely has been on an enormous ego trip ever since they tried to have him ousted after his butt-paddling shenanigans.
srDRIVEN 1:10PM (3/20/2009)
I agree with CJ. I was a fan of the 12-9-7 points approach. I get that many might discount Lewis' opinion as he was able to win because this new scoring system was not in place., but what is the FIA saying about consistency? I'd rather finish see someone finish 2nd all season consistently rather than someone who wins 6 races but DNFs in the rest.
FIA, too much regulation. Love the slick tires, but let's free up those engineers to really make some more mind bending machinery.
I am hopeful that despite this, Hamilton can repeat. I love the guy.
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Alvin 1:48PM (3/20/2009)
Yeah, the FIA does place a lot of regulations now. All in the name of safety, which makes me miss the good old days when they were running turbochargers and putting outrageous amounts of power and almost everyone could walk to the side of the pit straight and watch them blast by at crazy speeds. The FIA should relax a little, motorsport is an inherently dangerous sport...all the drivers should know what they're getting into before they start doing it.
EU_reader 2:27PM (3/20/2009)
Well yeah, and i'm glad F1 isn't run by cowboys like you. Like those monstertruck events where in the last couple of months two people got killed, right?
Is that what you mean by 'relaxing a bit'? F1 indeed is inherently dangerous, for the DRIVERS. The public goes to a race to have a good time, not te be in some sort of fysical danger. More importantly, the average Joe will and can not understand how serious and dangerous it probably is. The last thing we need is a couple of drunks who have been on a camping for the last two days, wandering next to a circuit where cars pass by at 320 kph.
Really, some comments....
You have seen how rally fans behaved in the '80 and '90s (check youtube) Yeah, there you have it, common sense of the dumb people.
As far as regulations go: the '70 with unlimited engineering are long gone. Live with it. There's no need for those cars to go even faster than what they already do. And that's without superchargers or turbos. 1500HP would be totally useless in terms of spectator entertainment, but would cost you 10 times as much money to develop. And do you think that sponsors will happily keep paying the same amounts of money into a sport that has no social relevance? Santander? ING? etc.
Maybe you would like to have a startgrid with 8-12 cars on it? Because that's where we are heading with 'unrestricted rules' and 'do what you want'. Competition would be non existent and most of the teams will have to drop out (honda almost did this year). F1 has never been more close in terms of racing or excitement since they hammered down the rules and budgets. It's been gradually better each year.
I think nascar is more your thing. Every car running around in circles, with the public protected by some metal caging. You can get as close as you want.
And i believe even nascar can not escape budget and tech rules. Isn't every car under the hood actually the same basic engine and platform? So there goes your argument. Nascar got those standard rules long before the 'new F1'
srDRIVEN 2:36PM (3/20/2009)
EU:
physical*
and:
- i do still want the FIA to relax regulation
- i don't want anyone to be put in harms way, i appreciate the safety concerns, no one likes wrecks
- i do want teams to be able to expand themselves more through development (i.e. where is the safety in the standard ECU)
- i hate nascar and i don't have much appreciation for moster trucks, but i think your assumptions are cute
Alvin 6:26AM (3/21/2009)
He was probably replying to what I said, but whatever. The assumptions made me chuckle, but no I'm not a NASCAR fan. Someone needs to seriously take a chill pill. I never said the FIA should bring back things from the past. Safety is definitely a concern with motor racing, but you start placing too many restrictions with good intentions and you end up causing more harm than good. Oh well, I didn't really phrase my comment well enough to get my point across I suppose.
Carlos 1:20PM (3/20/2009)
It makes sense, I don't see why they're making such a big deal. I guess it means that they'll have to drive at their best each race.
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RicoChet 1:25PM (3/20/2009)
I think it makes sense. You win the most races, you win the championship, I don't get whats so hard to grasp about that.
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ack154 1:26PM (3/20/2009)
What were they doing before? Slacking off? Come on now.
If they want to reward winning that much, just add another 3 more points for the 1st place finisher to what they have now. I'd even be favor of giving the pole winner an extra point (though I'd stop with the granular points right there).
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416Hammy 1:28PM (3/20/2009)
Make F1 scoring like every other sport on the planet? How DARE they?
Seriously, though...
Imagine if the World Cup was decided by total points scored over 4 years of football games. How much sense would that make. The old F1 system worked like this, in a way, and I've always thought it was stupid.
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Dave Ellis 1:32PM (3/20/2009)
"Every other sport on the planet".
Really?
The World Cup is a knock-out tournament with a completely different format. It cannot be compared. What CAN be compared is a regular football league. Take the the top English football division. Is it won on wins? No. It is won on points. A bit like every other LEAGUE. F1 is a LEAGUE. It is not a knock-out tournament.
imirk 1:44PM (3/20/2009)
Or maybe they should change football rules to match F1 rules and have all ~10ish teams compete at the same time in exotic locales ... wait this is a ridiculous comparison sorry I wasted your time.
Franz 1:53PM (3/20/2009)
Which other major motor racing series do you know of that's decided on wins?
Bondtastic 2:09PM (3/20/2009)
Your analogy is flawed. World cup qualifiers and the first round are decided by points. The later stages are knock out, so .. yeah if you aren't consistent you don't get to play for a championship.
Carlos 3:10PM (3/20/2009)
I'm with crazy, the most 1st place wins should be the over all winner.