Buzzin F1 - Formula One Blog

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has suggested that next seasons grand prix drivers will recieve a gold medal for winning a race, with silver and bronze medals going to second and third places, similar to the Olympic games.

The breaking F1 news from Ecclestone says that the championship will then be decided by the driver who has collected the most gold medals throughout the season, or in other words the driver who has won the most races.

Although the plan has yet to be approved by the International Automobile Federation (FIA), Ecclestone has said that “Everybody is happy with the idea, they are all very supportive.” He added that he was 100% sure that it is the right way to go and suggests that it will get the drivers overtaking by ensuring that they drive all out for victory, rather than banking points to secure the title.

It is expected that Bernie’s plans will be unveiled at the next FIA meeting which is scheduled for December 12th in Monaco, while the ten formula one teams should get the opportunity to discuss the idea amongst themselves at their next Formula One Teams Association (FOTA) meeting.

Had the medal system been in place for this season for instance, Ferrari driver Felipe Massa would have beaten McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton to the title, with the F1 results showing that Massa recorded six wins to Hamilton’s five.

Under the proposed system, no points would be awarded to drivers and only the first three places will be rewarded with medals. Drivers finishing outside the first three will be ranked in the championship by their placings in each race.

The constructors championship will not be affected by Ecclestone’s latest idea to make formula one racing more exciting, the same rules will apply as are currently in force and points will continue to be awarded to teams on the present basis.

It will be interesting to see whether the proposals are adopted for the coming season and  if so just what effect they will have on F1.