The points-based licensing system is coming to F1
Mentioned since the beginning of the season, the points-based license will make its appearance starting from the 2014 season. A driver who reaches 12 points over a period of one year may be excluded from a race.
The FIA World Council gathered today at Goodwood, where the traditional Festival of Speed takes place. One of the main decisions that emerged is that F1 drivers will now be subject to a points-based license.
The system is approximately the reverse of the French license: drivers will start with zero points and can go up to twelve. Once twelve points are reached, the driver will then be excluded from the next race. Penalties applied to drivers will be judged on a scale of one to three points per infraction observed. The details of this scale have not yet been revealed.
If this system is supposed to theoretically limit dangerous maneuvers committed by different drivers, it does raise some questions. The first is whether it is fundamentally legitimate to regulate professional drivers in this way, whose job is to get the most out of race cars. Then, what would happen if a top driver, like Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso, were to reach their limit before their home race? Would the FIA then take the risk of prohibiting them from participating in their event, at the risk of causing a significant drop in ticket sales from local spectators?
From our special correspondent in Silverstone
