Formula 1 has distributed points to the first classified of the races since the beginning of the world championship in the 50s. However, it has been changing both the number of drivers awarded and the number of points received, until the current points system that gives , since 2010 , 25 points to the winner, 18 to the second, 15 to the third and so on until the tenth classified.
In addition, all the points count for the drivers’ and teams’ world championship, unlike in previous times in history, when the worst results were not taken into account, which meant that the driver with the highest total score was not always the champion.
The F1 points system has been changing a lot: for example, in the first decade only the top five scored, then for more than 40 years only the top six, and now up to ten.
The current scoring system in Formula 1, in force since 2010*, gives the points as follows:
- 1st place (winner) 25 points
- 2nd place 18 points
- 3rd place 15 points
- 4th place 12 points
- 5th place 10 points
- 6th classified 8 points
- 7th classified 6 points
- 8th place 4 points
- 9th place 2 points
- 10th classified 1 points
- Fastest lap: 1 point (as long as the fastest lap is done by a driver who finishes in the top 10 in the race)
- Sprint races**: 8 points to the winner, 7 points to the second, 6 points to the third, 5 points to the fourth, 4 points to the fifth, 3 points to the sixth, 2 points to the seventh and 1 point to the eighth.
*Although the points are distributed in this way without changes since the 2010 season, the point for the fastest lap returned for the 2019 season, after 60 years without being awarded (since the 1959 course).
From 2021, Formula 1 has a new sprint qualifying race format on Saturdays during some Grands Prix. A race that defines the starting order for the main race on Sunday and where, since 2022, they score as follows:
Points in qualifying sprint races in F1
- Winner (1st) – 8 points
- 2nd place – 7 points
- 3rd place – 6 points
- 4th place – 5 points
- 5th place – 4 points
- 6th place – 3 points
- 7th place – 2 points
- 8th place – 1 point
How was the scoring system in Formula 1 before?
Before in 2010 up to 25 points were distributed to the winner, Formula 1 gave a maximum of 10 for the driver who won.
In the first decade of the F1 world championship, in the 50s, only the top five classified scored. From 1960 to 2003, they scored the top six. From 2003 to 2010, the top eight. And from 2010 to the present, the top ten.
In addition, until 1980 not all the results of each driver were taken into account for the world championship, but the worst were left uncounted (the number of results that were not taken into account varied according to the years). In other words, only the best results were taken into account, so the driver who had scored the most points was not always the champion, but the one who maintained the most points when only his best results were counted.
Formula 1 scoring system from 1950 to 1953
- 1st 8 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- Fast lap: 1 point
- For the World Cup, only the four best results were taken into account
Formula 1 scoring system in 1954
- 1st 8 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- Fast lap: 1 point
- For the World Cup, only the best five results were taken into account
In the early years of the Formula 1 world championship, drivers could use a teammate’s car if theirs broke down. In that case, if that car won the race and received 9 points, they were shared between the two (or more) drivers who had driven it in that race, equally, no matter how many laps one had done.
Precisely in this way came the first podium in the history of Spain in F1, when Alfonso de Portago had to give his car to Peter Collins and finished second in the 1956 British GP.
Formula 1 scoring system from 1955 to 1957
- 1st 8 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- Fast lap: 1 point
- For the World Cup, only the best five results were taken into account
Starting this year, drivers sharing more than one car during a race with other drivers were only awarded points for the highest position achieved by one of those cars.
In addition, points were no longer distributed equally to the drivers who shared a car, but if the number of laps that one of them had contributed was not considered sufficient, he was not given points.
The point for the fastest lap was split if two or more drivers tied. It must be borne in mind that at that time the times were not measured to the thousandth as they are now, but only to the tenth, so if two drivers rolled, for example, in 1:30.8, they equaled the fastest lap. This is how curious events occurred, such as in the 1954 British GP…
Formula 1 scoring system in 1958
- 1st 8 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- Fast lap: 1 point
- For the World Cup, the best six results were taken into account
In 1958 they stopped sharing carpool points. In addition, that year the constructors’ championship was born, for which all the drivers of a brand were added.
Formula 1 scoring system in 1959
- 1st 8 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- Fast lap: 1 point
- For the World Cup, the best five results were taken into account
The 1959 season was the last in which a point for fastest lap was distributed until it returned in 2019.
Formula 1 scoring system in 1960
From the 1960 season, the sixth-placed team also scored, although no points were given for the fastest lap.
- 1st 8 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- 6th 1 point
- For the World Cup, the best six results were taken into account
Formula 1 scoring system between 1961 and 1964
Since 1961, the winner of the race went on to receive 9 points instead of 8. That 9-6-4-3-2-1 system was in place until 1990.
- 1st 9 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- 6th 1 point
- For the World Cup, the five best results in 1961 and 1962 and the six best results in 1963 and 1964 were taken into account.
Formula 1 scoring system in 1965
- 1st 9 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- 6th 1 point
- For the World Cup, the best six results were taken into account
In 1961, for the constructors’ world championship, only the best driver of each brand joined in each race, and not all of those from that factory.
Formula 1 scoring system in 1966
- 1st 8 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- 6th 1 point
- For the World Cup, the best five results were taken into account
In 1966, if a driver did not complete the distance of the race that would allow him to finish classified, even if he had finished in the points zone it did not add anything.
Formula 1 scoring system in 1967
- 1st 9 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- 6th 1 point
- For the World Cup, nine results were taken into account, but not necessarily the best
From 1967, the result count changed. Instead of the best nine, that year five of the best six and four of the worst five were taken into account. For example, if a pilot did 1st-1st-2nd-4th-10th-6th-4th-3rd-Abandoned-5th-8th… The 1st, 1st, 2nd, 3rd were taken into account (leaving the one side a 4th), plus the 10th, 8th, 6th and 4th (leaving abandonment aside).
Starting in 1967, half points were awarded for races that stopped and ended before reaching half the distance.
Formula 1 scoring system in 1968
- 1st 9 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- 6th 1 point
- For the World Cup, nine results were taken into account, but not necessarily the best ones. They counted five of the six best and five of the six worst.
Formula 1 scoring system in the 70s and 80s
From 1969 to 1990, the system that started in 1961 was maintained, which distributed the points as follows:
- 1st 9 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- 6th 1 point
The only thing that changed in those times were the results that were taken into account for the drivers’ world championship . In ’69 and ’71, they counted only nine (five of the best six and four of the worst five); in 1970 they counted 11; in 72 only 10; in 1973 and 1974, 13 results; in 1975, 12 results; from 1976 to 1978, 14 results; in 79 and 80, 8 results; and from 1981 to 1990, the 11 best results.
Another aspect to take into account is that during the 1970s, for the constructors’ championship, only the result of the car that finished in the best position counted in each race.
And also, in the 80s and 90s, the teams that entered a single car, did not add anything with their second point.
Formula 1 scoring system from 1991 to 2002: 10 for the win
Since the 1991 season, the winner of each race received 10 points , while the rest continued to receive the same. Only the top six scored, there was no point for the fastest lap and all the results of each driver counted for the team championship.
- 1st 10 points
- 2nd 6 points
- 3rd 4 points
- 4th 3 points
- 5th 2 points
- 6th 1 point
Formula 1 scoring system from 2003 to 2009: scored eight
As of 2003, for the first time in history, being seventh and eighth also allowed you to score points, since the first eight received rewards. For the first time since 1961, the points of each position changed, and for example the second classified received 8 points.
- 1st 10 points
- 2nd 8 points
- 3rd 6 points
- 4th 5 points
- 5th 4 points
- 6th 3 point
- 7th 2 points
- 8th 1 point
There was no point for fast lap and all the results of each driver counted for the World Championship.
2009 was the last season where they only scored up to eighth and where the winner received 10 points. Since then, finishing in the top 10 of an F1 race brings points and a victory gives you no less than 25.
The current score makes the statistics of the drivers with the most points in history practically useless, since for example now being fifth brings as much as a victory until 2009.
