Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone is confident next year’s world drivers’ championship will be decided by the number of race wins rather than points total as is currently the case.
Under the proposed system, gold medals will be awarded to race winners and the driver securing the most victories by the end of the season would be crowned world champion.
At the moment, a race win earns a driver 10 points, with eight points available for second place and six for third as the top eight finishers receive points.
Ecclestone said the proposal to offer gold, silver and bronze medals instead is a result of last season’s final race when McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton took the world title with a fifth-place finish at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix.
Championship rival Felipe Massa won the race, but missed out on the title by a single point even though the Ferrari driver finished the season with six race wins to Hamilton’s five.
“It’s going to happen. All the teams are happy,” Ecclestone said at a press conference to introduce LG Electronics as a global partner of the sport from January onward. “It’s just not on that someone can win the world championship without trying to win the race.”
The new medal system will now be discussed by the FIA at the World Motor Sport Council meeting on Dec. 12.
Critics of the plan fear the medal system will reduce the interest to the main teams only, leaving smaller outfits out in the cold.
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