List of Formula One World Championship points scoring systems

Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class of open-wheeled auto racing series administered by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body. The "formula" in the name alludes to a series of rules set by the FIA to which all participants and vehicles are required to conform. The F1 World Championship season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, usually held on purpose-built circuits, and in a few cases on closed city streets. A points scoring system is used for each Grand Prix held over the course of the F1 season to determine the outcome of two annual championships, one for drivers (World Drivers' Championship) since 1950, and one for constructors (World Constructors' Championship) since 1958. Each driver accumulates championship points individually in the World Drivers' Championship and collectively for the team they compete for in the World Constructors' Championship. Both championships are formally awarded at the end-of-season FIA Prize Giving Ceremony to the driver and team with the most points.

## History

The points scoring has been changed several times throughout F1 history. Participants in every season until 1990 could only achieve Drivers' Championship points for their best-placed finishes in a specified maximum number of races. Up until 1979, most years saw only the highest-scoring participant in each Grand Prix for each constructor contributing points towards the Drivers' title. From 1950 to 1959, the top five finishers of each race plus the fastest lap setter tallied points. The format was expanded to include the first six finishers of each event from 1960 onward but with no point for fastest lap. Each Grand Prix winner tallied 8 points from 1950 to 1960, 9 from 1961 to 1990, 10 from 1991 onward.

Half points were awarded for three Grands Prix that were red-flagged before a certain threshold in a race progression was reached (at different times being either 60% or 75% of the scheduled race distance); starting from around 1977 to 1980 to the present day, no points were able to be accumulated should a race conclude early with the leader having completed two or fewer laps.

## Points scoring systems

Shortened race points criteria
 1980–present | Less than two laps

### Year-by-year

Notes

* "5/6, 4/5" means best five results from first six races, and best four results from last five races.
* Maximum Constructor points assumes a two-car entry.
* \* The Indianapolis 500 was not included in Constructors' World Championship.

## Footnotes

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The World Constructors' Championship was not awarded from 1950 to 1957.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Points for shared drives were shared equally between the drivers, regardless of how many laps each driver completed.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Points were shared equally between drivers who set the same fastest lap time (an extreme example of which happened in the 1954 British Grand Prix where seven drivers set the same fastest lap time, and each received <templatestyles src="Fraction/styles.css" />1⁄7 of a point).
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Points for shared drives were shared equally between the drivers, even if they drove more than one points-scoring car (e.g. 1955 Argentine Grand Prix), unless one driver was deemed to have completed "insufficient distance" (e.g. 1957 British Grand Prix).
5. ↑ Drivers who shared more than one car in a race only received points for their highest finish (e.g. 1956 Monaco Grand Prix).
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Formula 2 cars raced with Formula One cars in the following Grands Prix, but were ineligible for World Championship points:
	* 1957 German Grand Prix
	* 1958 German Grand Prix
	* 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix
	* 1966 German Grand Prix
	* 1967 German Grand Prix
	* 1969 German Grand Prix
7. ↑ Points were no longer awarded for shared race drives (e.g. 1958 Italian Grand Prix, 1960 Argentine Grand Prix).
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 Only the points of the highest-scoring driver for each constructor at each race (including privateer entries) were counted towards the Constructors' Championship.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 The point for fastest lap was only awarded to drivers, not constructors.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 The points in the Indianapolis 500 were only awarded only to drivers and not constructors.
11. ↑ Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the 1961 Drivers' title, and on an 8–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the 1961 Constructors' title.
12. ↑ Drivers who were not classified (i.e. did not complete a specified amount of race distance) did not score points, even if they finished in the top six places.
13. ↑ Second drivers of teams that officially entered only one car were not eligible for points. This affected Jo Gartner (Osella) and Gerhard Berger (ATS) who finished fifth and sixth at the 1984 Italian Grand Prix. Their points were not redistributed.
14. ↑ The first race for which half-points were awarded was the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 The requirement to complete two laps is believed to have been implemented between 1977 and 1980.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The FIA FAQ on Formula One World Championship.
2. ↑ Williamson, Martin. A brief history of Formula One. ESPN.
3. ↑ **Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor\_id\_list' not found.**
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>Budzinski, Oliver; Feddersen, Arne (March 2019). "Measuring Competitive Balance in Formula One Racing" (PDF). *Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers*. **25** (121): 5, 7. ISSN 0949-3859. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2021 – via EconStor.
5. ↑ Murphy, Luke (8 December 2018). Hamilton & Mercedes F1 officially crowned at FIA Prize Giving Ceremony. *Motorsport.com*.
6. ↑ Morlidge, Matt (7 December 2019). Lewis Hamilton officially crowned 2019 F1 champion at FIA gala. Sky Sports.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 **Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor\_id\_list' not found.**
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 World Championship points systems. *8W*. Forix (18 January 2019).
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Cooper, Adam (1 September 2021). How a 40-year-old rule turned F1 on its head at Spa.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 The five other times half-points were awarded in F1. The Race (31 August 2021).
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Why one-lap Belgian Grand Prix counted for F1 points (29 August 2021).
12. ↑ **Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor\_id\_list' not found.**
13. ↑ Esler, William (11 April 2014). The complicated history of Formula 1's historical facts and stats. Sky Sports.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 **Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor\_id\_list' not found.**
15. ↑ **Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Footnotes/anchor\_id\_list' not found.**