Formula 1 experienced one of its most controversial days when the Belgian GP was affected by heavy and persistent rain at Spa-Francorchamps last August, which caused delays in the start of the race before it was completed. officially started at the moment when the cars went for a spin behind the safety car.
The race was stopped by the stewards in search of a period in which the rain would allow to go out on the track, but after many hours of waiting that did not happen and race management felt that they did not have sufficient safety conditions to restart the race.
At that moment they gave the order to complete two laps behind the safety car to ensure that the race counted as officially disputed, in order to have a classification and distribute points.
As a result, Max Verstappen was declared the winner with the top 10 receiving half the corresponding points in what was the shortest race in F1 history.
Following the understandable reaction of the fans, the FIA took the decision to change the rules in this regard, and from now on no points will be awarded for a race unless the leader has completed a minimum of two laps without the presence of the driver. safety car or a virtual safety car, which means that what happened at the 2021 Belgian GP will not happen again.
Scoring rules have been further modified, for example only the top five will earn points if they complete between two laps and less than 25% of the intended race distance.
If the race leader has completed between 25% and 50% of the scheduled distance, the top nine will receive points, while if the leader has completed between 50% and 75% of the scheduled distance, the top 10 they will get points.
This is how the new Formula 1 points distribution rules are:
If the leader has completed more than two laps but less than 25% of the scheduled race distance, the top five finishers will receive points as follows:
1st – 6 points
2nd – 4 points
3rd – 3 points
4th – 2 points
5th – 1 point
If the leader has completed more than 25% but less than 50% of the scheduled race distance, points will be awarded as follows:
1st – 13 points
2nd – 10 points
3rd – 8 points
4th – 6 points
5th – 5 points
6th – 4 points
7th – 3 points
8th – 2 points
9th – 1 point
If the leader has completed at least 50% but less than 75% of the scheduled race distance, points will be awarded as follows:
1st – 19 points
2nd – 14 points
3rd – 12 points
4th – 9 points
5th – 8 points
6th – 6 points
7th – 5 points
8th – 3 points
9th – 2 points
10th – 1 point
The proposal was approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council.