Vettel calls the doubling of points in the last Grand Prix “absurd”

The regulatory changes announced for 2014 by the FIA following the meeting on December 9th between the F1 Strategy Group (composed equally of representatives from the largest teams, FIA representatives, and representatives of the commercial rights holders) and the Formula 1 Commission (a FIA body where all the sport’s stakeholders sit and which must, among other things, approve the proposals of the Strategy Group) have, for some of them, provoked strong reactions.

The most discussed measure on websites and social networks remains the doubling of points awarded during the last Grand Prix of the season. This measure, taken to maximize attention on the Championship until the end of the season, to quote the statement released on the FIA’s website, has very few supporters.

The ranks of those who oppose it have welcomed a distinguished guest, none other than the four-time reigning world champion, Sebastian Vettel. The person who would have lost the 2012 title to Fernando Alonso if such a system had been in place did not hide his aversion to this new rule: “It’s absurd and it punishes those who have worked hard all season,” he said to *Sport Bild*. “Imagine if during the last match of the German football championship, the points were suddenly doubled. I cherish the old traditions of Formula 1 and I don’t understand these new rules.”

An opinion shared, among others, by Martin Brundle, former driver and consultant for Sky Sports, who points out a measure that seems to have come out of the blue: « Doubling the points for the last Grand Prix of the season seems like an answer to a question no one was asking. It devalues the other races. »

Helmut Marko, a Red Bull official, even reveals that the idea of doubling points was initially not only limited to the last race of the season: Initially, it was planned that there would be double points for the last four races.