Drama Denied: What Was The Double Point?

The Hives put it perfectly - 'hate to say I told you so'. As I mentioned in a critical (and therefore fairly normal) post earlier in the year, I was not all for the double points race being discussed at the time. Having had that race - today's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, I can safely say I am still not a fan. A season full of twists and turns (even though viewers may have wanted a slightly more competitive field) has, thanks to the double points rule, seemingly been won emphatically. And this season review post will demonstrate that this has simply not been the case.

Though no-one can deny that the Constructors title has been long since over - really since about race five or six - the Driver's Championship has gone right down to the wire, with both Mercedes drivers in with a shout as the lights went out in the desert. It's worth saying that this would still have been the case without double points, though admittedly the pressure on Hamilton would have been non-existent.

However, after all the pre-race talk about avoiding technical issues, it was perhaps inevitable that the title would ultimately be cemented by a catastrophic ERS failure for Nico Rosberg. This left the German well outside the points, while his teammate took the top step in Abu Dhabi to extend his Drivers Championship lead to an impressive 67 points. Much like many football results we see, the final score simply doesn't tell the story, and this must be blamed, at least slightly, on the ludicrous double points final race.

Despite his enormous final margin of victory, the 2014 season started in the worst possible way for Hamilton with a DNF handing Rosberg a 25 point advantage. However, four straight one-two victories for the Briton saw him reel Rosberg back in as the pair headed to Monaco, with the Constructors Championship practically sewn up.

But the famous track saw an ugly twist in race, which threatened to break the two lifelong friends apart. In a move reminiscent of the cynical parking manoeuvre pulled off by Michael Schumacher in 2006 at Rascasse, a dubious "mistake" handed Rosberg pole and ultimately victory, bucking the trend of Hamilton wins and left a bad taste in the mouth. This would not be the only time the pair clashed, with Hamilton again feeling aggrieved at the tactics of his teammate at Spa later in the year.

With Hamilton's win at Yas Marina, Mercedes set a new record for most wins by a Constructor in a single season - 16. The only man to taste success was a surprising one - not one of the several world champions littering the field, but Red Bull new boy Daniel Ricciardo. His first race win in Canada was gifted to him, with both Mercedes drivers struggling with ERS problems - forcing Hamilton out, and Rosberg into second. He was also the beneficiary when the two Mercedes collided in Belgium, whilst poor strategic decision-making and changeable conditions handed the Australian the victory in Hungary. Though he has been fortunate, take nothing away from his performance - to comprehensively beat the four time world champion Sebastien Vettel, in the car he won the titles, both in qualifying and the race, is quite incredible.

Likewise, Valtteri Bottas's performances have also been eye-catching. Though the Finn failed to claim victory, he was a regular on the podium, more than matching his illustrious teammate, Massa. Moving back to the title race, the Mercedes pair swapped victories, with both taking their home races. However, after the incident at Spa, the team's sympathy sat well and truly with Hamilton, with a number of the upper echelons publicly blaming Rosberg for the crash. This clearly had an impact on Hamilton, as the Brit claimed the following five Grand Prix to take the initiative in the title race - 24 points ahead with just two races to go.

While in any normal season, that would almost see the title done and dusted, the threat of double points in Abu Dhabi placed more emphasis on the Brazilian GP. This time, the pressure told on Hamilton, with an uncharacteristic driving error having seemed set to jump his teammate in the pits. The spin left Hamilton 17 ahead going into today's GP in the desert, with the ERS problem for Rosberg killing any threat of final day drama.

So as I have mentioned, I am hardly the biggest fan of the double points rule. I was equally against the extension of the points to 25,17 etc... from the more traditional 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 that I grew up with. So, using the older scoring system, how would the season have panned out?

	Hamilton	Rosberg
Australia	0	10
Malaysia	10	18
Bahrain	20	26
China	30	34
Spain	40	42
Monaco	48	52
Canada	48	60
Austria	56	70
Britain	66	70
Germany	72	80
Hungary	78	85
Belgium	78	93
Italy	88	101
Singapore	98	101
Japan	108	109
Russia	118	117
USA	128	125
Brazil	136	135
Abu Dhabi	146	135

So Bernie wants excitement right to the end? Newsflash Mr Ecclestone - you don't want double points, you don't even want the current 25 for a win scoring system - you want the system you used 10 years ago! Under the old system, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg would have come into today's race separated by just one point, knowing that the winner would take it all!

F1's Double Points Finale: Just How Ridiculous Is It?

The news that Formula 1 is planning to award double points for at least the final race of the season has been greeted with almost universal derision from fans and drivers alike. I pride myself on attempting to put both sides of the argument before coming to a reasoned decision, and this will be no different. Personally, I disagree whole-heartedly with the changes, but then again I generally am averse to major change in sport. I disliked the points move to 25 initially, but this has widely been accepted.

After such an emphatic title victory by Sebastian Vettel last time around, it is unsurprising that bosses want to prevent the same repetitive, boring season next year. Handing double points for the final race of the season would certainly prolong the title race, as an individual would need to be more than 50 points clear before travelling to the final race to be assured of the title. However, even this argument has flaws. It would not prevent the situation that we saw this season, as Vettel would still have been champion entering the final race in Brazil, and his win in the final race would only add further emphasis to the margin of victory.

I have further issues with this proposal. At the beginning of the season, every team sets up their car in a particular way, with different top speeds and cornering ability. This means that the best car often changes depending on the type of track. If a track has a huge amount of straights, like Spa-Francorchamps or Monza, this inevitably favours a car with a high top speed. On the other hand, a track like Monaco or Singapore's Marina Bay circuit rely on twisting turns, meaning that cars with excellent turning ability and high downforce will be at an advantage. What this has to do with the proposal is regardless of the track that is chosen to be the final race of the season, it will favour one team in particular. Either this, or, even worse in my opinion, all of the teams will set their cars up with the final race in mind, meaning that there will be no difference between the cars from track to track, meaning that we will almost certainly repeatedly see the type of emphatic Vettel win each season. It will become who can set their car up for the final race best.

As I mentioned earlier, this proposal has been met largely with disapproval. Most outspoken of the drivers has been Sebastian Vettel. Whether that is because it disadvantages him should his championship lead next year not be as emphatic as this, or whether that is me being cynical, I am not sure. Nevertheless, his comments have been covered in media across the globe, and he has become the face for the anti-50 points campaign. As much as I agree with the sentiment behind his words, I have a serious issue with something he said. One of the soundbites used during his comment was 'it's like giving double points for the final game of the Bundesliga'. That got my back up. I do love a good analogy, but it is this kind of ill-conceived and poorly constructed notion that makes me think that sportsmen should just stick to 'I think that...'.

The reason this simple statement got me irritated is that the two aren't really comparable. Whilst they are both sports, there is pretty much where the similarities end. The key point that makes me disagree is the fact that not all of the teams play each other on the final day. In racing, every driver is on the track at the same time, and therefore each can alter their own fate and position. On the final day of the football season, Bayern Munich (the team in first) could be playing Eintracht Braunschweig (the team currently bottom), whilst their main title rivals Borussia Dortmund could be playing Bayer Leverkusen for double points. I know which I would favour in that equation. In football, the fixtures leave more to fortune than F1 ever can, and therefore the double points in football would be far more unfair than the double points in motor racing.

However, just because I am arguing against Vettel's usage of a misguided metaphor, please do not think that I support the new rules. I do not. I think, for the reasons I have outline, it is a ridiculous notion, which doesn't even achieve its original purpose. If an individual is really as dominant as Vettel was this season, they will win the final race regardless, as Vettel did. Designed to attract TV audiences, all this new rule would do would be to force the other 19 races into a lesser category, meaning that viewers are unlikely to watch them. This makes no sense, either for the benefit of the sport, or the wallet of Bernie Ecclestone.