Formula 1 are discussing changing the points system ahead of the 2025 season – but Sky Sports F1 pundit David Croft has suggested an even more radical idea than the one put forward.
The change requires approval from five of the 10 teams to go through, with several of the smaller outfits in favour of the idea and RBR chief Christian Horner and Ferrari counterpart Fred Vasseur appearing at least impartial to it.
While this change to the system would be huge for the midfield teams to fight for points, F1 commentator Croft believes that even that is not enough and speaking on the Sky F1 podcast, he suggested that points should be awarded as far down as last place, as long as you finish the race.
“People want to see racing,” he said.
“If you can have more Sprint races, have a Sprint world championship, don’t make it a part of the Grand Prix championship, for me.
“But I’ve said that for quite a while and by the time people watch this podcast Matt [Baker], the F1 commission might well have voted on points down to 12th place and from what I understand, that is likely to happen from next year.
“Look, I don’t think it goes down far enough. I’d like to see points down to 20th, if you finish.
“And it’s not a case of a few people who contacted me on X and said: ‘oh yeah, it’s like modern day school isn’t it, you know turn up for the egg and spoon race, you get a prize.’ No. It is a very simple way to explain why a driver is in a certain position in the championship.
“Rather than ‘oh yes, because he’s had two 13th places and a 14th and the other guy has had one 13th and two 14ths,’ just have the points and then you reward, for me, consistency over the season in terms of finishing, which is a big part of Formula 1.
“You explain it easier for the fans, you get better battles because points are at stake and if you do have a DNF, it counts against you more.