FIA to bring more 'clarity' on point allocation for reduced-distance F1 races after confusion at Japanese GP

The FIA has revealed that the governing body will seek to bring more clarity to the points allocation system after confusion at the Japanese GP.

There was quite a bit of confusion over points allocation in Suzuka. The race had been red-flagged because of the conditions. When it was restarted, there were 28 laps completed. Even Max Verstappen, who won the race was not entirely sure of how the points would be allocated.

Until the clarification issued by the FIA, there was a lack of clarity over Max Verstappen's status as the F1 champion this season. In a report issued by the FIA, the governing body said that it would try to bring further clarity to the rules in the next review of the sporting regulations. The report read:

"At the Japanese Grand Prix, Article 6.5 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations which covers race time limit and points distribution was applied correctly. However, the wording of the Regulations will be revisited with a view to bringing further clarity during the next review of the Sporting Regulations."

The Article 6.5 of the FIA's sporting regulations reads:

"If a race is suspended in accordance with Article 57, and cannot be resumed, points for each title will be awarded in accordance with the following criteria,"

The detailed criteria include states that the winner of the race get six points if less than 25% of the race is completed, 13 for 25-50% and 19 for 50-75%, with full points then kicking in for any distance over 75%. These only apply when the races 'cannot be resumed', but as the race resumed in Suzuka, full points were awarded to the drivers.

Max Verstappen talked about confusion at end of Japanese GP

Max Verstappen, the man who was crowned the world champion was one of the people that were surprised as well as confused when he was crowned the world champion. Talking about the sequence of events, Verstappen said that he did not mind the sequence of events too much. He said:

"To be honest, I don't mind that it was a little bit confusing, I find it actually quite funny because at the end of the day it's not going to change the result. When I crossed the line, it [the original result] was not enough, even if you would give full points. So, in that scenario, it wouldn't have changed anything."

He added:

"About the rules... These are really complex situations with the weather, and the amount of laps. Then of course, there's a difference between if you finish a race or the race gets red flagged early on, and then you can't continue. I do think that if you don't write enough rules, it's not good. If you write too many rules. It's also not good. It's always really hard to find a middle ground I think."

It is, however, interesting to see how quickly the FIA has been able to intervene in these things. F1 needs better governing and the agility from FIA can only help in that respect.