F1’s final race double points in GPs scrapped after only one season
Formula One’s controversial double points for the final race has been abandoned after only one year. The World Motor Sport Council on Wednesday ratified a decision taken at a meeting of the Formula One Commission in Geneva last week.
The scheme was introduced at the behest of Bernie Ecclestone in an effort to prolong the championship and attract high television audiences through to the final race. His original concept was for the final three races to carry double points but it was decided the system would be employed only for the closing grand prix.
The decision was greeted with overwhelming condemnation by fans, while drivers past and present also voiced their disapproval.
The championship would still have gone to the wire with the final race in Abu Dhabi even if there had been no double points on offer. Lewis Hamilton could have lost the title on double points to his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg if a certain set of circumstances had unfolded. Mercifully for Hamilton he emerged victorious, claiming his 11th win of the year and with it his second world championship.
Following the WMSC’s meeting in Doha it has also been decided there will be no standing restarts behind the safety car. The F1 commission voted in the idea earlier this year but, following a thorough review of the potential difficulties, that too has been axed.
The WMSC has agreed to the introduction of the “virtual safety car”, which was successfully piloted at the end of practice sessions at recent grands prix. The system arose following Jules Bianchi’s accident at the Japanese Grand Prix. The Frenchman is recovering from severe head injuries in a Nice hospital.
The FIA quickly reviewed how best to control a driver’s speed during incidents where a safety car is not required, deciding the VSC, where a speed limit is imposed around the track, to be the ideal solution.
A statement from the WMSC read: “Following tests of the VSC system at the final events of 2014 the introduction of the system has been approved for 2015.
“The VSC procedure may be initiated to neutralise a race upon the order of the clerk of the course.
“It will normally be used when double-waved yellow flags are needed on any section of track and competitors or officials may be in danger, but the circumstances are not such as to warrant use of the safety car itself.”