Double Points in the Final Race

[sushifiesta]

Ask fans, casual or not, of any competition with a league if they think it's a good idea to double the worth of the last race/match/game/etc. and I think you'd get a pretty resounding no. Ask them whether they'd be more likely to watch the last race though and I suspect more would say yes than no.

That's probably the issue - even if it's complete bull shit you're forced to play along as ultimately it is more important. I am holding some hope that there's enough sensible, high profile figures in the sport that will lobby to reverse the change but we'll see...

EDIT: Also...

They changed the points system not too long ago to give more bias to race wins. Reversing that might have been a good way to start if they were so bothered about prolonging the championship battle...

4 out of the last 7 WDCs (2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012) have been decided at the last race.

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

.... my mind drifts off into a dream state ... 2015 ... Mark Webber is at Le Mans the week of the race ... preparing for the weekend ... since he has left RBR, the relationship between him and Seb has improved to the point where they speak 4 or 5 times a year ... Mark's cell phone rings ...seeing the number ...

MW: "Seb .... me old quintuple champion ... how they hanging"

SV: "Not bad grumpy koala ... not bad ... still trying to get my head around how I won last weekend"

MW: "Yeah... I couldn't figure it out either ... how much did you win by again?"

SV: "They said I won by 4 seconds ... but I finished 21 seconds behind Lewis"

MW: "Wow ... he would have been pissed at that ... since he had to be manhandled off the top step of the podium ... but I did hear he was out partying with what was her name ... Miley Cyrus ... on Sunday night ... isn't she the girl with the dad with the super mullet haircut ... that put to shame some of those 80's German footballers shag rugs ... you should grow one ... haha"

SV: "Ja ja ha ha mofo ... Miley is his new g/f now ... bit of a wild one ... but Lewis seems happy"

MW: "Knowing Lewis that will all change when he can't set his car up for the next race and the sky has fallen in ..."

SV: "So ... I win by 4 seconds ... because they tell me that Lewis got a 5 second penalty on the formation lap for being too slow in bringing the grid around from pole ... another 5 seconds for not switching on the new neon advertising signs when he came in for his first stop ... another 5 seconds for running one lap too many on the option ... you know that new rule that says no more than 30% on any set of tyres ... then another 5 seconds the next lap because he was going too slow down the pit lane ... and blocking/holding up Jenson in the McLaren-Asahi-Kirin-Honda ..."

MW: "Blocking in the pit lane ... what will they think if next ...5+5+5+5 ... that is 20 seconds ... where was the other 5 seconds ?"

SV: "This is crazy ... that new rule that measures how much gas if left in the tank after the race and credits you time ... the "saving the planet subsidy" ... they measure it and apply some formula and give you seconds back ... LH has 3.2 litres and got back 2.1 seconds ... I had 5.7 litres with was worth 7.1 seconds ... nets out to another 5 seconds ..."

MW: "Wow ... I guess I can say ... nice win .... bah ha ha ha ha"

SV: "hahaha thanks ... it seems to be a bit of a ... what did you say to Christian and Helmut when I beat you in Sepang in '13 ... this is a cluster...??"

MW: "clusterfark ... I agree with that mate ... a right royal clusterfark ... you should come race some real cars over here with us in LMS ... a lot more fun ... less stress ... get to drive ten tenths for as long as you want ... tyres that last more than 8 minutes ..."

SV: "You know ... that does sound like a pretty good idea right now ..."

MW: "Just drop me a line whenever ... good luck in Austria ... hope you can rack up the 34th win in a row ... keep that streak alive ..."

SV: "thanks ... good luck on the weekend"

 

[Incubus]

They changed the points system not too long ago to give more bias to race wins. Reversing that might have been a good way to start if they were so bothered about prolonging the championship battle.

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They did that to restore the bias on race wins that had been seen before throughout the history of F1, so I strongly disagree to a return with the 2003-2009 system.It's only right that race wins should be proportionally better rewarded than other finishers.
I thought the 2003-2009 system was ridiculous. You could have someone winning four races in five, reitiring at the fifth, and scoring the same number of points as someone scoring five successive second places.

 

[RasputinLives]

I think we should have stuck with 10-6-4-3-2-1 all along as its a much easier to follow system.

Of course it makes no difference to who would win what. All it means is that big names like Mclaren can report back to sponsors saying "we finished 5th with 70 odd points" rather than "we finished 5th with 7 points" it was the only reason it was changed and had nothing to do with improving the sport.

 

[sushifiesta]

All I'm saying is there are many more natural ways to prolong the championship battle. In the old 10-8 system if you assume the same two drivers finish 1-2 in the same order all the time it takes 5 races for the driver that wins to build a gap equivalent to a race win. In the 25-18 system it takes 3.5 races. So, like you say, it took longer for a dominant driver to build an insurmountable gap. I prefer that to doubling the value of the last race.

 

[Mephistopheles]

They sometimes give double points for a British superbike race but only if an event has been cancelled during the season which at least makes some kind of sense...

What if a driver does a good job all season and pulls out a 49 point lead only to lose the championship by one point at the final race how fair is that?

Of course you know who to blame don't you? Vettel that's who..

 

[Slyboogy]

I'm surprised no one in the F1 paddock has said not said anything about this rule.

Seems very quiet, I hope it doesn't happen, not much sense, anything can happen in one race leading that can affect the title and have bad consequences, once that happens, it'll likely to get scrapped.

 

[RasputinLives]

Its all a bit silly.

The only reason the championship was over so quickly was because Vettel and Red Bull did a massively better job than anyone else. Whatever rules you put in they'd have still trounced the field. Unless the rule was that if Vettel got so far ahead he wasn't allowed to score points until someone had caught him up (which I wouldn't put past the FIA)

We had a last race decider in 12, 10, 08, and 07. I seem to think 09, 06 and 05 were second to last races of the season deciders so in reality there is not an issue.

Don't be fooled by the spin this is all about Abu Dhabi getting what they've paid for. They will have said "make sure our event is always a highlight and gets lot of attention and we'll invest lots of oik and cash" and look! Low and Behold! The FIA have fixed it so it is.

 

[Incubus]

I'm surprised no one in the F1 paddock has said not said anything about this rule.
.

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Well the "F1 Strategy Group" is partly made up of the six leading teams, so the teams themselves would have been the ones pushing for it.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Why don't they just build a big loop the loop on the circuit then?

 

[sobriety]

I'm surprised no one in the F1 paddock has said not said anything about this rule.

Vettel has:

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/25324100

 

[Mephistopheles]

If constructors points means money and that money is calculated on each point earned who's going to shell out for the extra 91 points on offer?

 

[Slyboogy]

Don't be fooled by the spin this is all about Abu Dhabi getting what they've paid for. They will have said "make sure our event is always a highlight and gets lot of attention and we'll invest lots of oik and cash" and look! Low and Behold! The FIA have fixed it so it is.

I highly doubt that they would make a rule just so that one Grand Prix would benefit from it, Abu Dhabi have been chasing the last race slot ever since it lost it back in 2011.

 

[Mephistopheles]

I noticed this in that article.

In 2012, Fernando Alonso would have beaten Sebastian Vettel; in 2008, Felipe Massa would have denied Lewis Hamilton; and in 2003 Kimi Raikkonen would have edged out Michael Schumacher.

Lewis wouldn't have won in 08 in that case I'm all for it now..

Nah it's a bloody stupid idea...

 

[Incubus]

Why?
It's not retroactive y'know?

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

Not many people know this but Bernie was the inspiration for the film Hot Tub Time Machine ...

He uses it often to source new brides apparently ....

 

[Westy]

I'd love it, for spite only, if next seasons championship is all nicely rapped up the race prior to Abu Dhabi.

 

[RasputinLives]

I highly doubt that they would make a rule just so that one Grand Prix would benefit from it, Abu Dhabi have been chasing the last race slot ever since it lost it back in 2011.

You are far less cynical than I then Sly. Look at whose in charge. I'd say most of them would pimp out their gran for an extra zero on their bank balance.

 

[sushifiesta]

sobriety Let's hope more drivers etc. come out with comments like that!

 

[downforce]

I don't know if anyones mentioned it but ironically this measure designed to prolong championships would have meant that Vettel would have won by even more.

I can't be bothered to look at the maths atm but wouldn't this rule have meant 5 championship contenders in Abu Dhabi 2010...