Ecclestone: Points system not working
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone says the current Formula One points system doesn't work and makes the sport less exciting


Currently, the system awards ten points to the winner of a race, with eight going to the runner-up and six to the third-placed driver.
The points system was changed in 2003 in order to avoid a driver clinching a title too early. Before that, the winning driver used to get four more points than the runner-up.
Ecclestone believes the current two-point difference is not enough to make drivers take risks and go for victory.
"The decision to award eight points to the runner-up in a Grand Prix has not worked," Ecclestone told the Mail on Sunday.
"There's not enough motivation for the driver in second place to go for the win. They weigh up the situation and decide it's not worth the risk of falling off the road just for two lousy points.
"They reckon they might get lucky in the pits and sneak ahead that way, but that's the only way they are prepared to go for the No 1 spot. All I keep hearing is people moaning about the fact that we don't see an awful lot of overtaking any more in F1.
"To me, it should be all about winning," Ecclestone added. "The driver who wins the most races in the season should be the world champion.
"It's as simple as that. Second places should only come into the reckoning if both drivers win the same amount of races."
Ecclestone says he will push for a change in the system as soon as next season.
"Well, obviously not this season because the regulations are set, but I'd like to change it maybe for next season," he said. "As the president of the F1 Commission, I shall be bringing it up."

Ecclestone wants 'a number' of night races
Webber writes off Melbourne chances

Latest news
Bottas feels greater "human effect" on F1 car performance at Alfa Romeo
Valtteri Bottas feels he is able to have a greater "human effect" on the performance of his Alfa Romeo Formula 1 car compared to what he found at Mercedes.
Norris: Long-term McLaren F1 deal allows for better work-life balance
Lando Norris believes his long-term Formula 1 deal with McLaren has allowed him to strike a better work-life balance and relax more away from racing.
The 10 stories to watch out for across the rest of the 2022 F1 season
It’s 13 down, nine to go as the Formula 1 teams pause for breath in the summer break. But what can we expect to happen over the next three months from Belgium to Abu Dhabi? Here's the key storylines to keep an eye out for the rest of the 2022 season
Aston Martin's radical F1 rear wing return dictated by cost cap
Aston Martin says the return of the radical rear wing solution it introduced at Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix will be dictated by cost cap considerations.
The 10 stories to watch out for across the rest of the 2022 F1 season
It’s 13 down, nine to go as the Formula 1 teams pause for breath in the summer break. But what can we expect to happen over the next three months from Belgium to Abu Dhabi? Here's the key storylines to keep an eye out for the rest of the 2022 season
The inconvenient truth about F1’s ‘American driver’ dream
OPINION: The Formula 1 grid's wait for a new American driver looks set to continue into 2023 as the few remaining places up for grabs - most notably at McLaren - look set to go elsewhere. This is despite the Woking outfit giving tests to IndyCar aces recently, showing that the Stateside single-seater series still has some way to go to being seen as a viable feeder option for F1
How a bad car creates the ultimate engineering challenge
While creating a car that is woefully off the pace is a nightmare scenario for any team, it inadvertently generates the test any engineering department would relish: to turn it into a winner. As Mercedes takes on that challenge in Formula 1 this season, McLaren’s former head of vehicle engineering reveals how the team pulled of the feat in 2009 with Lewis Hamilton
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24 into a winning car with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And now it’s happening again at his current team, but can the rate of progress be matched this year?
Why few could blame Leclerc for following the example of Hamilton’s exit bombshell
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior