The medal system in A1GP only replaces the trophies, they are still awarded points down to 10th with a bonus point for the fastest lap. The winner only recieves 15 points and it works. People have forgotten what a championship is..... Its the person/team with the most points at the end of a season wins their respective championship. In 1967 Denny Hulme won the championship with 2 wins and 51 points from the great Jim Clark, 4 wins and 41 points, in fact Jimmy only came 3rd in the championship with Sir Jack Brabham coming 2nd with 2 wins and 46 points. You didn't see people crying foul because the had more wins, in fact they were gentlemen and sportsmen where they congratulated the champion for being consistant through out the whole season. Thats where that famous saying comes from, "To finish first, first you have to finish".

I am totally against the medals idea. It gives no incentive to mid-grid teams. They might as well pack up and go home after the first few laps. I agree that the points differential for a win should be higher and that it was a mistake to only award points to the first eight places when the points system was changed in 2003. They should look at the points system in Moto GP

Its not a matter of not liking change!. personally i think the current system is fine!.. a champion doesnt not have to have the fastest car, but he should also be consistent. Therefore the way it is now is the best,m Any change, might spoil things

I would change the sistem completelly. I would give points to evey single car on track, let's say it start with 50 points to the winner, then you come down until one point to the last. This way gives flexibility, since you can do a 10 points diference between first and second, or more, and everybody is rewarded. At the end of the season everybody will have points, instead of now, when 3, 4, 5, drivers are tied with no points......

No trophy wife, so now Bernie wants to sell just trophies?..........without further detail, on the surface of it, this idea has no merit. As andrewkd points out......you had this when the points were 10-6-4-3-2-1.....which can easily be modified to pay points over the first 8 places. Personally, I'd favor a points system that pays out over the entire field....you never know when only 1 point can make a difference, do you ?...... :-) !!!!

oh we don't like change do we!! go for it Bernie.

It was Bernie who introduced the current system. Instead of throwing his toy out of the pram, wouldn't it be better to remodel it ? There's clearly not enough points difference between the top places, as most of us have been saying for the last five years. I propose 12 9 7, then 5 down to 1. But it could equally be 15 11 8 6 then 4 down to 1. Anyone got the energy to see how this would have worked out over the last few years ?

Based on what Bernie has said there about a driver not needing to overtake based on just getting 2 more points, i have one question.... Why did they change the points system to make it all about consistancey? What was wrong with the old 10,6,4,3,2,1 or even the 9,6,4,3,2,1? It is because of rule changes every year that i have stopped following the sport as much as i used to. I always hated it when someone would tell me what i want to see......

What team would support this besides Ferrari & McLaren as it is of no benefit for any other team. What made this season great was the different levels of battles. The Toyota v Renault challenge or the Red Bull team rivalry added so many more things to talk about than who won. WIll they really fight hard down the order if there is nothing to be gained past 3rd place. When it comes to to down the field action who will forget Sato passing Alonso in 2007, would that have happened if there was nothing on offer?

If it happens, I'm done with F1. Leave the gimmicks to NA$CAR

In management we have a concept, if you want to push your idea through, then come up with a series of ridiculous ideas and then suggest the one you want to push through. The problem with Bernie's suggestion is that he his trying to push an atrociously ridiculous idea among other ridiculous ideas. I am a Ferrari fan, but I would not want Massa to win a race in the manner suggested by Bernie. Of late, I think Bernie is beginning to lose it in life. Then again, I may be wrong - looking at the 2008 season.

Thank goodness.

No overtaking because of the penaltys involved.Check with the Stewards before trying a pass.Along with alot of other things,Bernie lives in his own world.Sooner he's shown the door the better for everyone involved.

The Medal system works for A1GP because that is a World Cup of motorsport with NATIONS racing all driving the SAME car with the SAME powerplant and using the same tyres, like medals are given in the Olympics etc etc. But it just won't work in F1, i have to agree with thought that it'd only be an advantage to the TOP teams because they have got enough funding to work on the cars and keep them evolving, whereas the smaller teams would struggle. Time for Bernie to retire methinks.

If one can believe this, its the greatest news true F1 fans have had for a long long while. With the current system, there are incentives galore. What is needed desperately, is the elimination of the constant meddling of both Max(FIA) and Bernie (both has-beens)with things that are working extremely well. The rules are set, now allow the teams and drivers to deliver, and for crying out loud, kick out the moron of stewards and bring in professionals, who know something about the sport.

FFFT! The FIA finally make a decent decision? Let's wait and see....

i hope this stupid idea is shot down. " The reason there is no overtaking is nothing to do with the circuits or the cars". Funny how the all the engineers disagree with that and thats why the regulations have been overhauled for 2009

I'm surprised this half-baked idea got as far as it did.

"If you are in the lead and I'm second, I'm not going to take a chance and risk falling off the road or doing something silly to get two more points". Actually Bernie you're wrong. I seem to remember that this was what Lewis did at Spa. And the reason people don't do it is not because they don't need or want to, but because they fear punishment.

I thought Bernie said that all the teams were behind this? Has he been being economical with the truth to push this ridiculous idea through? Good news that it is sounding like it is going to be binned before it goes any further.

When Bernie first came up with this plan I posted a message wondering why. It is highly unlikely to go through so what is Bernie up to. He will have known it wouldn't be popular and he is very devious so has anybody out there got any ideas on what is going on. Don't think Bernie is a fool he isn't he is highly intelligent and has been around a long time and made a lot of money.

What racing series has he been watching? Little overtaking has everything to do with the cars and in some cases the circuits. Both Spanish tracks seem like parades with no change unless someone crashes. That's not because everyone is contented to pick up a few points and they wouldn't pass any more to pick up a stupid medal.

The claim that it would have left the season decided early in the 2004 season is flawed. It is based on the results from races where the points system was in use, so you can't say for sure how the drivers would have approached the season if they had been fighting for a win or nothing in each race. And yes there could be more wrecks and car failures but that is what racing is about.... frankly I see this as the best hope of reviving a dying sport.

Bernie says "If you are in the lead and I'm second, I'm not going to take a chance and risk falling off the road or doing something silly to get two more points." Bernie is obviously not Lewis Hamilton.

He didn't get to be a Gazillionaire by luck. Oh' look there is an eagle!!!!!!!!!!! Mention something stupid, get everyone talking about it and guess what? They forget you the fella going around strong arming circuits into paying 150mio buck guarentees up front in the middle of the biggest financial down turn since none of the teams were around. (sry Norbert)

it has some legitimacy for increasing overtaking but we have to look at how close second place normally is to the winner of a race. most of the time the guy finishing second doesnt even have a chance to pass the winner so it wouldnt really increase passing, just make it easier for the top cars to win the championship. if anything the points system should be changed with a bigger reward for first place while also adding points for pole and fastest lap. 10 points for first, 7 for second, 6,5,4,3,2,1