Jordan says medal system is 'nonsense'

Jordan also feels that removing the incentive for drivers in smaller teams to fight for points finishes will harm teams who do not have the resources to challenge the front-runners.

"I think it's a nonsense," he 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.

"I can promise you, having been in that position, two points against no points is a huge difference."

He said that battling to get into the top eight for a midfield team was an important part of a driver's development.

"Drivers like (Felipe) Massa, who started at the very bottom and worked his way up, know how important those points are at the back of the field," said Jordan.

"Everybody that's involved in the financial side knows how important it is, and the extraordinary excitement that there is for getting a point at the back.

"McLaren and Ferrari are working on a budget of perhaps 250 million, and then you have other teams like Force India and Toro Rosso, who to everyone's surprise won a race this year, who would have maybe ten or eight times less budget to play with, and inferior drivers because they're learning their trade and they will come and be world champions in years to come.

"But they have to find their feet somewhere, and that place has to be in the smaller teams because they're the people who take the risks."

Ecclestone said this morning that he expects the medal system to be ratified by the FIA World Motor Sport Council in December so it can be introduced for the 2009 season, but Jordan said there should be more consultation about the scheme.

"He's tinkering with something that in my opinion he has lost the understanding of," said Jordan.

"He thinks people are only interested in winning the races. I'm sorry, but there's just not enough thought put into this. It should be put to one side and discussed by him and Max Mosley, and for Bernie Ecclestone to say it's coming with the full approval of all the teams, I simply don't believe it."