Formula 1 is a sport that demands drivers push themselves and their incredibly innovative machines to the limit. It’s a team sport (you have to change four tyres in less than two seconds!) but drivers are more like fighter pilots, battling extreme g-forces and making daring decisions in the blink of an eye at more than 370kph. The world’s best do this to win the esteemed F1 Drivers’ Championship and the prize money on offer for the team.
Formula 1 has a complex points system in which every driver who finishes the season’s races receives championship points. The top ten finishers in each Grand Prix and associated sprint race score points, with 25 awarded for the winner. Drivers also accumulate points for their teams, with the total from both drivers in a given car counting towards the Constructors’ Championship.
When a driver moves between teams during the season, their previous championship points are added to their new team’s tally. A team can have a maximum of two cars in each race, so it’s important to maximise the number of points scored from those two.
It’s never happened in 74 years of F1 racing but were two drivers to end the season with an identical tally, a countback of results would determine the champion. If that fails to separate them, then the drivers with the most wins are crowned champions. The teams also battle to claim the Constructors’ title, with Ferrari having won 16 titles ahead of Williams, McLaren and Mercedes – who have won eight-in-a-row.