The Shanghai round was the first event where F1’s latest sprint format has been deployed –with the parc ferme restrictions on car adjustments relaxed between the two Saturday sessions.

This opened the possibility for teams to run very experimental set-ups in the shorter races – especially for cars starting outside the top 10 on the grid – but in practice, the competitors felt any changes they could make were more limited, even if they might be considered aggressively hopeful.

“We had a lot of those discussions coming into the event of [regarding] rear wing level setup [etc],” said Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough. “But ultimately doing a 19-lap [sprint] stint is still hard and you can’t really make two big a change compared to the main race.”

McCullough also suggested the sprint-to-GP changes F1 teams made in China were actually relatively bigger than the adjustments to be made elsewhere to improve in-race tyre wear for the longer contests.

This is because of the Shanghai track’s altered surface and the teams lacking data with the new ground-effect cars for that venue pre-weekend.

“It was maybe bigger here just because we’ve not been here for so long,” he added.

“The 2019 cars when we were last here had rear ride heights three times the rear ride heights we are running now and the stiffness of the car, everything’s so different the tyres, the aero.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“We all simulated and prepared, [and] the track grip itself was maybe worse – more rear limiting than in the past which I think we kind of predicted just to have these tyres and how the generation of cars are working.

“[Aston] sort of walked where we thought, ‘you get one run [in FP1], bang you make some changes before sprint quali’.

“But after the sprint race really you learn the most in high fuel long running. A 30-odd-kg long run, you learn.

“And then we were like, ‘Right, what’s going to happen when we put another 70kg of fuel in, which are the tyres we’re gonna have to look after what do we need to do, bang, make some changes’.

“They weren’t big changes, really. Everyone up and down the pit lane would have made [those] changes.”

The Shanghai weekend’s most dramatic set-up adjustment results turnaround came via Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg, whose sprint set-up “actually made the car worse”, per Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu.

Hulkenberg fell from starting 13th to finish last in the sprint before the American squad was able to go back to a proven arrangement and he scored a point in the GP.

Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-24

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella reckons “this reopened parc ferme will certainly be used for tuning the balance of the car”, but added, “sometimes this could be large changes if you see you are significantly off”.

He continued: “The possibility to reopen parc ferme after the sprint has two implications. The first one is that the weekend is slightly more forgiving.

“Because if you got some ride heights wrong, or you see that the balance needs adjustments based on the tyre behaviour, for instance, you can do it.

“And this, at the same time, I think allows you to be slightly more aggressive in the first place in terms of what direction to take, or, for instance, in terms of ride heights, because you can compensate.

“And we actually from a purely engineering point of view found this interesting because we had the opportunity to see the balance in the sprint.

“Obviously, if there were some silver bullets, we would have deployed them already.

“So, we talked about not much more than some fine-tuning. But it’s interesting from an engineering point of view that you can do it. This change for us is very welcome.”

F1 has changed its points system several times over the years, with the first structure used in 1950 looking very different to what it is now. 

There is even another change on the cards for the 2025 season and a decision over if to introduce it or not will be made later this year — as Autosport exclusively revealed. 

New F1 points system

There will be more points-paying positions under F1’s new structure, should the discussed system receive the necessary support to get introduced.  

It has been proposed that points should be awarded to the top 12 finishers of a grand prix, rather than 10, as a significant gap emerged between the top and bottom half of the championship in 2024. 

In the opening five grands prix Alpine, Sauber and Williams all failed to score, while 33 points separated fifth-placed Aston Martin and RB in sixth.  

The smaller teams therefore argued that a change is needed to ensure points are more widely distributed. For it to be granted, five of the current 10 teams need to vote in favour and, despite it not being unanimous, this shouldn’t be a problem as many top constructors aren’t opposing it.  

This may be due to the new system having a minimal impact on the fight for the overall championship. Under it, the top seven positions will remain as valuable as before with eighth onwards just receiving a slight change.  

Laurent Mekies of Visa Cash App RB talks to Daniel Ricciardo, RB F1 Team

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

The change will also ensure that races become more valuable for slower teams, as right now they are likely to have frequent non-scores. 

RB team principal Laurent Mekies told Autosport: “The bottom five teams are large organisations now and it’s very difficult to explain to the outside world, to our partners, and to our fans, that we battle for a P11 that actually grants zero points. 

“If you look at the level of competitiveness of the top five teams and the reliability level of the cars, it means that most of the race you’re battling theoretically for zero points, and we don’t think this is right.” 

It will also reward consistent finishes throughout a season rather than fluke results which could decide a position in the championship. Yuki Tsunoda, for example, finished either 11th or 12th six times in 2023 yet that level of consistency was never rewarded. 

Under the proposed system, those six results would have scored points causing AlphaTauri — now RB — to finish above Williams in the constructors’ championship.  

Mekies added: “We also think it’s more meritocratic because, if you score points up until P12, you will avoid the effect where if something completely stunning happens and somebody scores a P5 or P4 in the rain, it means the other guys can stay home for 10 races.” 

Not everybody is in favour of the change though, as ex-F1-driver-turned-commentator Martin Brundle posted: «Points must be hard won and treasured. Valued. Not some kind of lucky dip where everyone wins a prize.» 

Martin Brundle, Sky F1, chats with Carlos Sainz Jr

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

The proposed system will have no impact on the sprint race, with a sliding scale of 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 still to be in use.  

F1 world champions if the proposed points system had always been used 

The proposed system will mark the 30th change to F1’s points structure since its inaugural season in 1950. Back then, F1 used a scale of 8-6-4-3-2 before switching to nine points for a victory in 1961 and then 10 in 1991, while a win has been worth 25 points since 2010. 

Up until 1990, F1 also used a dropped points format where not every result counted towards the championship — in 1950, for example, only a driver’s four best finishes were recognised. It varied throughout the years and in some instances, a driver became champion despite scoring fewer points than a rival. 

In 1964, for example, Graham Hill scored one more point than John Surtees, yet the latter became champion because Hill had his points finish in Belgium dropped from the standings. This meant only 39 of Hill’s points counted as opposed to 40 for Surtees. 

It happened again in 1988 when Alain Prost scored 11 more points than Ayrton Senna, yet the Brazilian became champion because he had 14 fewer points dropped than his McLaren team-mate.  

So, if the proposed system had always been used, many championship outcomes would have finished differently — for example, 1964 and 1988. 

This means Prost would join Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton as a seven-time world champion, having taken a title from Senna, the 1983 championship from Nelson Piquet and Niki Lauda’s 1984 crown. 

Alain Prost, Williams FW15C Renault.

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Elsewhere, James Hunt would not be a world champion as the 1976 title would belong to Lauda. Eddie Irvine would be the 1999 world champion and not Mika Hakkinen, while Damon Hill would have two titles after claiming the 1994 championship on top of the 1996 crown that he actually sealed. 

Despite losing the 1994 championship to Hill, Schumacher would still have seven titles because the 1997 crown would have gone to him and not Jacques Villeneuve. 

Carlos Reutemann also becomes the 1981 world champion instead of Piquet while Jacky Ickx takes the 1970 title off Jochen Rindt, who died at that season’s fourth-to-last round. 

Also, Alberto Ascari would be a triple world champion after winning the 1951 title instead of Juan Manuel Fangio, meaning the Argentine has four titles.  

F1’s current points system (2022 — present)

F1 has used its current points system since the 2022 season when it trialled a new format for the sprint race. The sprint race debuted in 2021 where a scale of just 3-2-1 was given to the top three finishers.  

But for 2022, that sliding scale was increased to 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 meaning the sprint race became more valuable for much of the grid. The current grand prix scale of 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 has been used since 2010 though, as F1 wanted to increase the value of a victory because beforehand just two points was the difference between first and second under a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 format.  

The system introduced in 2010 then received a controversial addition in 2014, as F1 offered double points for the Abu Dhabi season finale when Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were fiercely battling for the championship. 

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W05 Hybrid, 1st Position, arrives in Parc Ferme after securing the win and the 2014 World Champion

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

Luckily, it had no impact on the championship fight as Hamilton would have won regardless, but it was subsequently scrapped for 2015. F1 then tweaked the format again in 2019 but this time proved more successful, as the fastest lap bonus point returned for the first time since 1959 and it remains in use today.

The 2022 season also saw F1 revamp its reduced points system. Currently, F1 has two hours of track time within a three-hour window to complete the scheduled distance of a grand prix. But, for differing factors whether it be a safety car or slow laps etc, sometimes a full race cannot be completed within the time limit. 

So, if track time hits two hours, then the grand prix finishes at the end of the next full lap and depending on how much of the distance has been completed, a certain percentage of points will get awarded. 

For example, if two laps or fewer are completed then zero points are given. A quarter of points will be awarded if a grand prix completes up to 25% of its scheduled distance, while it is half points for 26-50%. Finally, three-quarters of points will be awarded if 51-75% of the scheduled distance is done, while anything above that sees full points get awarded. 

This change came after the controversial 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, which was a two-lap procession behind the safety car because heavy rain made conditions unsafe. Despite that, half points were still awarded because all F1 needed at the time was to complete two laps — it did not matter if conditions were green or not.

F1 world champions if current points system had always been used 

F1’s world champions list would also look very different had the current system been used since 1950. Under this system, Prost would be a six-time world champion with him taking the 1984 crown off Lauda and the 1989 championship from Senna. 

That means, unlike the proposed system, Piquet remains a three-time world champion as the 1981 championship also does not go to Reutemann. The other changes remain the same as what they are under the proposed system.

F1 points system costs 

Red Bull dominated the 2023 season by winning a record-breaking 21 of 22 grands prix, yet such unprecedented success did not come without its cost. It meant Red Bull paid the FIA $7,445,817 to compete in the 2024 season, which is the highest entry fee ever given by an F1 constructor. 

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

This is because a team must pay money for every point it scores during the season. Currently, a point is worth $6575 for nine of 10 teams, while the constructors’ champions must pay $7893 per point. This means Red Bull gave the FIA $6,787,980 on top of the $657,837 base fee for scoring 860 points in 2023.  

Red Bull therefore paid almost double what Mercedes did, as the 2023 runners-up gave $3,347,012 for entry into the 2024 F1 season with last-placed Haas giving the FIA the least at $736,737. 

Such a system was introduced in 2013 as part of a revised Concorde Agreement where the base fee started at $500,000 plus $5000 per point scored, with the constructors’ champion paying $6000 but inflation has since caused it to rise.  

So, if the proposed system gets introduced, the FIA should receive extra money from teams entering the 2026 season due to more positions offering points. It shouldn’t have too much of an impact on the bigger teams, but it certainly will on the slower constructors who have a smaller budget because now they will pay more to enter the championship.   

The table below shows what teams would have paid for the 2024 season had the proposed system been in use for 2023. 

The table below shows what teams would have paid for the 2024 season had the proposed system been in use for 2023. 

History of F1’s points system