Formula One news

Ecclestone: Medals should bring more excitement

Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone hopes to introduce a medal system as of next season. Such a medal system should bring more excitement to the fans as Ecclestone expects drivers to fight a bit harder for a golden medal and thus fans should expect more overtaking.

Ecclestone's idea is that instead of points the drivers should be awarded with medals but only the top three would receive a medal while the constructors' championship would continue with the classic points system. The driver with the most gold medals in a season will win the Formula 1 world championship.

Bernie Ecclestone explained at F1's official website: "Well, quite simply, it will make Formula One a much more exciting spectacle because it will incentivise drivers to race to win. We should see much more overtaking, drivers will take more chances and they will race each other all the way to the chequered flag. At the moment, quite often we see drivers settling for second, third or fourth position, and the race can be dull in the final stint after the last round of pit stops. The drivers aren't to blame, they're racers, but the scoring system forces them to be too conservative. As things are, if they want to take the title, it is better to settle for a few, safe points rather than chase down the guy in front and risk going home with no points.

"But this is Formula One, the pinnacle of world motorsport, and only the best driver should win the title. Being a Formula One world champion is not about being a consistent and reliable runner-up. It's about racing hard, taking chances and not settling for second best. Last year, Hamilton was leading the drivers' championship before he had even secured his maiden win. Likewise, after Canada this year, Kubica led the drivers' championship on points even though Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen had all won more races. Lewis and Robert are both extremely talented, but I don't think the system should produce that kind of result. It shouldn't be possible for someone to be crowned world champion without winning a single race, but that really could happen unless we change the scoring system."

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