The champion driver will be the one with the most victories

The FIA, during a Council held today Tuesday in Paris, has decided to change the functioning of the World Drivers’ Championship. Starting from the 2009 season, the World Champion will be determined by the number of victories rather than the number of points scored. However, the points system will remain in place.

The FIA announced these changes for the drivers’ and constructors’ championships this Tuesday. The International Automobile Federation had been wanting change for several months. The FOTA (an organization that includes all the championship teams) had sent its recommendations earlier in the week; a broader points system like 12-9-7-5-4-3-2-1. However, the FIA did not take this into account.

In fact, the Constructors’ Championship hasn’t even been modified. It will depend on the scale in effect until now: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1. This scale will also be used to rank the drivers in the World Championship in case of a tie and to define the final standings of the season. However, the world champion will be chosen based on the number of victories during the season. Thus, the driver with the most victories will be crowned at the expense of the one with the most points. Consistency is no longer essential.

« The WMSC (FIA Council) has accepted the FOM – Formula One Management – proposal for the world champion to be defined based on the number of races won in the season. » declares the FIA in a press release.

« If two or more drivers finish the season with the same number of wins, the one with the most points will be crowned champion, according to the 10, 8, 6 scale in effect. »

« The rest of the rankings, from second to last place, will be decided by the current points system. There are no plans to award medals to drivers on the podium, and the Constructors’ Championship will not be affected by the changes. »

The WMSC thus rejected the alternative proposal made by the FOTA – Formula One Teams’ Association – to change the points awarded to the first, second, and third: respectively 12, 9, and 7 points.

These changes come after a request from the FOTA, which called for a revision of the point system. After investigation, it was found that drivers were not sufficiently encouraged to aim for first place if they were already in second. Now there is an additional source of motivation, as a victory will be absolutely necessary to hope to win the 2009 title.

The FIA also preferred this solution to that of the FOTA for a simple reason: suspense. With a broader points system like 12, 9, 7, it’s very likely that the Champion would have been decided before the last race of the year. The number of victories does not change the suspense.

For example, in 2008, Massa arrived with the same number of victories (5) as Hamilton for the last GP in Brazil. He won the Grand Prix, which would have allowed him to become world champion at Hamilton’s expense.