Bernie Gets His Way...

Rejected Beatles cover-band member Bernie Ecclestone has finally gotten his way. During the silly season, when he pitched the idea of having medals awarded tot he top three finishers in a race, much like the Olympics, he was roundly laughed out of the paddock, and for good reason. A medals system would have been a death blow to teams like Force India, Honda, and (sadly) Williams. But fret not, because Bernie is not one for giving up. He kept pushing, and today it was announced by the FIA that the 2009 Championship would be awarded to the driver with the most wins.

Take last year for example. There was much sadness in the paddock as the results poured in at Interlagos. Felipe Massa, by virtue of his win had locked up the point's championship. At least, that's how it seemed. Lewis Hamilton was languishing in sixth place behind Sebastien Vettel and Timo Glock. Glock's Toyota, though, was on dry tyres in wet conditions. He lost control and Vettel and Hamilton sped past, kicking the Brit back into fifth place and handing the Driver's Championship to the McLaren pilot. Some cried unfair. How can a driver that finishes fifth be given the point's title? Well, it's quite simple, Lewis Hamilton was the most consistent driver over the course of the entire season. He overcame having a win stolen from him at Spa (which would have given Hamilton 6 wins instead of five, and left Massa with five instead of six), he overcame some horrible decisions by the stewards at Fuji, and he raced with all he had at Brazil to grab the fifth spot.

For a hypothetical situation under Bernie's new proposal, consider this scenario:

Felipe Massa wins three races, and then finishes in the points (let's say second) only one other time, leaving fourteen races without a points or podium finish. That would be about 38 points on the year.

Lewis Hamilton wins two races, but averages a third place finish for the other sixteen races. That would be about 116 points on the year.

Obviously this is a rather outlandish scenario in light of the regulation changes and all, and it's not likely that Hamilton will ever put up those kind of Schumacher-esque numbers, but the point of this exercise is simple: under the new rules Felipe Massa, with 38 points, would win the Driver's Championship of Lewis Hamilton, who has 116 points.

I'm sitting here right now and hoping and praying to any God or gods that will listen that this idea is only a one year thing, because if it's not, I'm out. I love this sport, but Bernie, you're screwing it up. Stop it!