F1 points race doesn't add up

Felipe Massa won the most races, but didn't win the championship

Nov 03, 2008

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Motorsport Writer

The reason I became a fan of car racing way back when is because the guy who won the race got the trophy, the money and the girl.

Times change.

Now, there's no girl (it's 2008 and trophy girls are passé) and there's not a lot of money unless you're in the top professional leagues. But they still give you a trophy for finishing first because the name of the game is winning and that's all that really counts.

Which means that today I am suggesting they change the rules for Formula One (and the people who run NASCAR and the IRL can take note too, if they wish) and make winning the only thing that matters.

If they want to award points to the top six or eight finishers in order to break a tie, or to figure out who finishes second and third, etc., over the course of a season, then that's fine. But the driver who wins the championship should be the driver who wins the most races, period.

Lewis Hamilton won the World Drivers Championship yesterday by finishing fifth in the Grand Prix of Brazil. Yes, fingernails were being bitten off all over the world and it was all terribly exciting but in the end, the guy who won the race and who also happened to win the most races all season, Felipe Massa, didn't win the championship and that's a shame and it's not right.

Massa won six races this season while Hamilton won five. In my books, that makes Massa the champ.

This kind of talk isn't new. When Matt Kenseth won the NASCAR Winston Cup championship in 2003 on cruise control (he won one race but piled up the points by finishing in the Top 10 most of the rest of the time), I – and many others – called on NASCAR to make winning more meaningful.

They did, so far as qualifying for the Chase for the Championship is concerned. But then, during the 10-race playoff, they went back to rewarding consistency more than winning and so now, with two races remaining in the Chase, we have Carl Edwards with eight wins and Kyle Busch with eight wins both trailing Jimmie Johnson, who's only got six.

It's just not right.

Even the guy who runs Formula One, Bernie Ecclestone, thinks something should be done to spice up the show. He suggested last week that F1 do away with points and award gold, silver and bronze medals to the top three drivers at the end of the season.

Discussing yesterday's finale in Brazil, Ecclestone said this:

"All Hamilton has to do is drive around and finish fifth. He won't really be pushing because he doesn't have to. But just imagine what would happen if he had to win the race in order to win the gold medal! It would be terribly exciting."

Now, as it turned out, the last couple of laps yesterday were, indeed, terribly exciting. But Ecclestone's point is well taken: excitement would have been guaranteed if Hamilton, as well as Massa, had to drive for the win. There would have been a showdown and it would have come down to the best man.

As it was, the best man won, but it wasn't enough.

American football legend Vince Lombardi said it best: "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." Formula One is the top motor sport in the world and should follow that maxim.

THE RACE

The last two laps of the Grand Prix were edge-of-the-seat stuff. It was raining. Everyone had stopped for intermediate tires (half wet, half dry) except Timo Glock in his Toyota. Glock was running in the top five because he'd stayed out on dry tires and advanced while the others were in the pits.

Hamilton was in fifth place. The championship was his. Suddenly, Robert Kubica – a lap down! – darted past him. It seemed to spook Lewis, who went wide. Sebastien Vettel followed Kubica through and into fifth place. It now appeared that Hamilton was going to lose the championship again, exactly as he had a year ago at this same circuit.

But by now it was pouring, and Glock was having a terrible time staying on the island. On the second last lap, he turned a time of 1:28 and change. On the last lap, he was significantly slower (1:48) and Vettel and Hamilton managed to overtake him.

Massa won in his Ferrari, (and for a few moments thought he'd won the championship), with Fernando Alonso (Renault) second and Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) third. Vettel (Toro Rosso) was fourth and Hamilton (McLaren) was fifth. Poor Glock rowed home sixth.

POINT WELL TAKEN

Hamilton, at 23, is the youngest driver in history to win a world championship. He is also the first non-white. He scored 98 points to Massa's 97. Ferrari won the constructor's championship.

CANADIAN CORNER

F1 journalist Gerald Donaldson told Vic Rauter on TSN that he is very confident that the Canadian Grand Prix will be back on the schedule for 2009. He reported that Ecclestone had been meeting with Canadian officials this weekend and quoted Ecclestone as saying that "if we can get a promoter," then the race would be back on.

Several questions:

1. Normand Legault of Montreal has promoted the Grand Prix of Canada, in one way or another, since the race was moved to Montreal from Mosport in 1978. For all intents and purposes, he has owned the rights to stage the race outright since 1996. He has not been heard from since this saga began. Is he dead? What does Ecclestone mean when he says: "If we can get a promoter. . . ?"

2. How much more federal and provincial tax money has been pledged to prop up this race? It's a given that between $8 million and $10 million a year has been spent in recent years. What will it be in 2009: $20 million?

The newly elected minority Conservative government had better be prepared to answer the money questions. A lot of people are going to be very upset unless they get razor-straight answers.

NASCAR

Johnson can wrap up his third straight NASCAR Sprint Cup championship at Phoenix next weekend although chances are it will go down to the wire at Homestead-Miami Speedway in two weeks. . . Edwards won the Sprint Cup race at Texas yesterday; Kyle Busch won the Nationwide race Saturday. . . Paul Tracy (!) finished 20th in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Friday.

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