Bernie Ecclestone is convinced Formula One will be much more competitive this season under the new winner-takes-all system.
Architect of new scoring system insists it will improve F1
Bernie Ecclestone is convinced Formula One will be much more competitive this season under the
new winner-takes-all system.
Under Ecclestone's recommendations the governing body's World Motor Sport Council has agreed the driver who wins most races will be crowned world champion - a ruling that would have cost Lewis Hamilton the title last year.
Felipe Massa edged Hamilton by six victories to five following his triumph in the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix but lost out by a single point to the Briton in the final reckoning.
And Ecclestone is delighted his plan will now come to fruition in time for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 29.
"The system is exactly what I proposed, just without the second and third-place awards," said Ecclestone.
"What it does is make the drivers bloody well go for the win rather than settle for second. That's what we will see when the guys get to Melbourne.
"It will be real racing, which is good for the fans and the sport."
Fear of change
Ecclestone, F1's commercial rights holder, also rounded on critics of the new system.
"Any time we make any changes, there are a whole bunch of people who say, 'forget it, it won't happen'," he added.
"When we had two-race engines, everyone said you can't do it because the teams won't finish races.
"Everything that is proposed, the teams always say forget it - it is just par for the course.
"[The teams] say they have reduced their budgets by 50 percent. Fine, but the guy who was spending 300 million will now spend 150 million, and the guy spending 80 million dollars will spend 40 million dollars.
"There has always been that gap difference.
"We are going to restrict teams that want to be covered by that cap to 30 million pounds, but we are going to try to help them with technical advantages. Then some of the big teams will ask why they are spending 300 million.
"In the end the truth of the matter is we should just have a cap for everybody, although maybe 30 million is a bit too low."
Bumper grid
Ecclestone hopes the new rules will see a return to the bumper F1 grids of the 1980s, when as many as 39 cars were vying for 26 places on the starting grid, forcing the sport's rule-makers to run pre-qualifying sessions.
In recent times the entry numbers have hovered between 20 and 22 cars per season, and both Ecclestone and FIA president Max Mosley believes the changes will prevent the sport seeing those numbers drop further.
"The good thing is that most of the teams have got contracts that will get them through 2009, and we need to get our act together for 2010 to make sure we don't lose people," Ecclestone continued.
"But better than that, perhaps we can gain some people. I want to see pre-qualifying again. I want 26 people on the grid, of which 16 are competitive."
