Ecclestone Insists New F1 Medal System Will Be Adopted By Next Season
Formula one chief Bernie Ecclestone claims that scoring the championship by medals won will create more exciting races
Formula one teams were left baffled today by Bernie Ecclestone's claim that his controversial gold, silver and bronze medal system to decide the destiny of the formula one drivers' world championship will be ratified at next month's meeting of the FIA's world motor sport council.
"It's going to happen. All the teams are happy," said Ecclestone, who is the formula one commercial rights holder. "The whole reason for this was that I was fed up with people talking about no overtaking. The reason there's no overtaking is nothing to do with the circuit or the people involved, it's to do with the drivers not needing to overtake.
"If you are in the lead and I'm second, I'm not going to take a chance and risk falling off the road or doing something silly to get two more points," he continued. "If I need to do it to win a gold medal, because the most medals win the world championship, then I'm going to do that. I will overtake you."
Although none of the team principals would be drawn on what could develop into a controversial debate, one team insider rejected Ecclestone's suggestions completely. "At the present time the championship points are awarded down to seventh place," he said. "Far from encouraging overtaking, having gold, silver and bronze medals for the top three finishers would act as a major disincentive to those outside the top four to attempt any overtaking manoeuvres at all.
"What would be the point of anybody trying to pass if there was no prospect of gaining extra points for the championship? Anyway, the whole concept has certainly not been agreed by all the teams."
It was also pointed out that an enormous amount of work has already been carried out in framing the new 2009 formula one technical regulations to produce an aerodynamic package which would contribute to the next generation of formula one cars having more chance of overtaking than their predecessors, and thereby eliminating any need for an overhaul of the competition's points system.
Had medals rather than championship points been awarded in 2008, Felipe Massa, with six wins, would have won the championship ahead of Lewis Hamilton on five wins. Ecclestone claimed that his system would bring about a more exciting world championship in 2009, but the former team owner Eddie Jordan dismissed the whole concept as "nonsense".
Jordan, who founded the Jordan Grand Prix team in 1991 — now known as the Force India team, told BBC Radio Five Live: "The focus of everyone in formula one at the moment must be on the current situation with costs and cost-cutting, and nothing else. The rest is just dressing it up.
"The points are necessary. I was one of the team principals in the team principals' meetings who advocated that the points should go down to eighth place, because one point to a team down there is as important as a win is to the likes of McLaren and Ferrari, and we must never forget that," he continued. "I can promise you, having been in that position, two points against no points is a huge difference."
"It's going to happen. All the teams are happy," said Ecclestone, who is the formula one commercial rights holder. "The whole reason for this was that I was fed up with people talking about no overtaking. The reason there's no overtaking is nothing to do with the circuit or the people involved, it's to do with the drivers not needing to overtake.
"If you are in the lead and I'm second, I'm not going to take a chance and risk falling off the road or doing something silly to get two more points," he continued. "If I need to do it to win a gold medal, because the most medals win the world championship, then I'm going to do that. I will overtake you."
Although none of the team principals would be drawn on what could develop into a controversial debate, one team insider rejected Ecclestone's suggestions completely. "At the present time the championship points are awarded down to seventh place," he said. "Far from encouraging overtaking, having gold, silver and bronze medals for the top three finishers would act as a major disincentive to those outside the top four to attempt any overtaking manoeuvres at all.
"What would be the point of anybody trying to pass if there was no prospect of gaining extra points for the championship? Anyway, the whole concept has certainly not been agreed by all the teams."
It was also pointed out that an enormous amount of work has already been carried out in framing the new 2009 formula one technical regulations to produce an aerodynamic package which would contribute to the next generation of formula one cars having more chance of overtaking than their predecessors, and thereby eliminating any need for an overhaul of the competition's points system.
Had medals rather than championship points been awarded in 2008, Felipe Massa, with six wins, would have won the championship ahead of Lewis Hamilton on five wins. Ecclestone claimed that his system would bring about a more exciting world championship in 2009, but the former team owner Eddie Jordan dismissed the whole concept as "nonsense".
Jordan, who founded the Jordan Grand Prix team in 1991 — now known as the Force India team, told BBC Radio Five Live: "The focus of everyone in formula one at the moment must be on the current situation with costs and cost-cutting, and nothing else. The rest is just dressing it up.
"The points are necessary. I was one of the team principals in the team principals' meetings who advocated that the points should go down to eighth place, because one point to a team down there is as important as a win is to the likes of McLaren and Ferrari, and we must never forget that," he continued. "I can promise you, having been in that position, two points against no points is a huge difference."
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