Formula 1's final race of 2014 will be worth twice as much as the race before it.
The sanctioning body announced that the finale next year at Abu Dhabi would be worth 50 points to the winner instead of 25.
From our friends at Eurosport:
The FIA said double points would "maximise focus on the championship until the end of the campaign" and had been unanimously approved at a meeting in Paris of teams in the F1 Strategy Group and Formula One Commission.
Sebastian Vettel won the final nine races of the 19 race season last year and won the title by 155 points. So with double points last year, the gap between he and Fernando Alonso would actually have been 175. Yes, the F1 points system is heavily skewed towards winning. Not a horrible thought, right?
In this writer's opinion, the standard F1 system would be a viable option if NASCAR wanted to look at the points system again. Points are only given through 10th place and there is a seven point gap between winning and finishing second. It puts strong emphasis on winning and running well, plus a certain thing at Richmond would have had no impact whatsoever on the points standings.
It'll be fascinating to see how the reaction to this move plays out, given that many NASCAR fans felt the move to the Chase was gimmicky. Heck, a lot of those fans still feel that way.
Given recent F1 history, there's a decent chance that the points change will matter next season. In 2012, Alonso would have been champion with the double points and in 2008, Felipe Massa would have won instead of Lewis Hamilton.
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