Bernie seems to be serious about changing the points system by replacing it with gold, silver and bronze medals as in the Olympics. His idea is that the driver with the most medals wins and this would avoid the situation where a driver only has to finish in the lower places to be champion. Apparently this would be more exciting for us, the viewers, especially as we are too stupid to understand a points system.
Bernie Ecclestone
Keith Collantine of F1 Fanatic has written many posts on the subject of changing the points system to give more recognition to race winners and the comments indicate that there is a lot of support for increasing the points difference between a win and second place. This makes a lot of sense as a mere two point difference is clearly not enough.
But, when it comes to bringing in a whole new system of medals instead, support withers away and I am left wondering how Bernie dare say such a thing as, "Everybody is happy with the idea, they are all very supportive". No doubt his cronies think it is a wonderful innovation but they will go along with anything he dreams up. And I cannot believe that the midfield and tail end teams think much of it - their rewards are slim enough as it is and Bernie's system would just make it more difficult for them to have anything to show for a season's hard work.
Bernie has pointed at 2008 as an example of bad results from the points system; Lewis Hamilton had only to finish in fifth place at Interlagos to be champion, after all. By a medal system, however, everything would have been wrapped up before the final GP, with Massa as champion, thanks to his greater number of race wins. What Bernie is missing is that the championship takes into account the entire season and not just the last race. It rewards consistency as well as pure speed, encouraging drivers to develop their skills to finish races, rather than go flat out and crash half the time. Like everything in F1, it is a matter of balance.
If we look more closely at last season, we will find that it would have been extremely dubious to give the championship to the guy with the most wins. One of Massa's victories was awarded to him after the real winner, Hamilton, had been penalized in very debatable circumstances. Another win came to Massa by virtue of a broken exhaust on Kimi Raikkonen's car. The medals do not care; points at least reward Kimi for persevering at a slower pace and finishing second. Consider how easily the FIA will be able to manipulate the championship if the medal system is instituted - it is no wonder that they love Bernie's suggestion.
There can be only one winner in each GP. Points give some value to those who fought hard enough to be in the minor places and make it worth their while to keep trying. Medals would focus far too much on winners and so discourage the rest of the pack as to make it pointless for them to continue. At a time when the field is dwindling as smaller teams find the costs too high, F1 needs medals like it needs a hole in the head.
I have been following F1 since the early sixties and seen many alternative systems for awarding the championship tried and thrown away. There is some point in trying to adjust things to make a pretty good system even better; but to dispense with a system that has invariably provided us with the right champion and replace it with something that one man thinks might be a "good idea" is irresponsible, contemptuous of the fans and, quite frankly, insane.
Bernie has been quoted recently as saying that he will never retire and that the day he does not turn up for work will be the day they lower him into his grave. On the evidence of this latest idea, I would suggest that he may be ignoring the danger of senile dementia that could take him out long before he finally bites the dust. There is an old saying that the powers that be in F1 need to be ever aware of: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."