Formula 1 rules: How does the points system work?

Explaining how the Formula 1 points system works for the 2024 season.

A new Formula 1 season begins on March 2nd in Bahrain, where 20 drivers and 10 teams will start a long, globe-trotting journey that will see them race on five continents and 21 different countries.

There are 24 full-length races on the calendar for 2024, along with six sprint races which also award championship points.

Points awarded to drivers count in the standings for the World Drivers’ Championship. Teams also compete for the World Constructors’ Championship, where points scored by each respective team’s drivers are added together each week.

Let’s take a look at what each position is worth in each type of race:

Grand Prix races

Points are awarded to the top 10 finishers per race as follows:

1st: 25 points
2nd: 18 points
3rd: 15 points
4th: 12 points
5th: 10 points
6th: 8 points
7th: 6 points
8th: 4 points
9th: 2 points
10th: 1 point

Bonus point for fastest lap: In a Grand Prix race, an additional 1 bonus point will be awarded to the driver who completes the fastest lap. In order to be eligible, the driver with the fastest lap must finish inside the top 10.

Sprint races

Sprint races will be held in China, Miami, Austria, Austin, Brazil and Qatar.

1st: 8 points
2nd: 7 points
3rd: 6 points
4th: 5 points
5th: 4 points
6th: 3 points
7th: 2 points
8th: 1 points

Shortened races

Formula 1 also introduced new scoring rules for Grands Prix that are shortened due to weather or other reasons, following the highly controversial 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, which awarded half points to the top 10 despite zero racing laps being run.

In the event that a race is shortened, points will be paid out depending on how much of the scheduled race distance was completed.

If less than 25% of race distance is completed: 

Points awarded: 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 (zero points awarded to 6th place and below)

If 25%-50% of race distance is completed: 

Points awarded: 13, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (zero points awarded to 10th place and below)

If 50%-75% of race distance is completed: 

Points awarded: 19, 14, 12, 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2, 1

Has the points system always worked this way?

No, in fact the current points system is a very modern invention.

Ignoring the invention of sprint races 2021, F1 only awarded points to the top six finishers from 1950 all the way to 2002.

From 2003 to 2009, F1 paid points to the top eight drivers, with the race winner still only receiving 10 points. The current system of 25 points for a win was introduced in 2010 in order to incentivize and properly reward winning races, as the points gap between first and second became much wider.

NASCAR fans react to outrageous 3-wide photo finish at Atlanta

Here’s what drivers and fans were saying about the wild finish.

The re-imagining of Atlanta Motor Speedway to turn it into a pseudo-Daytona has created some wild races in recent years, but the Cup Series’ best just delivered one of the closest finishes we’ve ever seen on Sunday evening, with three drivers crossing the line simultaneously.

At the end of a chaotic 400-mile race that featured several huge accidents, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez went three-wide on the final lap and had a drag race to the line. The broadcast initially thought that Blaney had crossed first, but a slow-motion camera at the finish line showed that Suarez edged the other two cars by the slimmest of margins.

Officially, Suarez crossed the line .003 seconds ahead of Blaney, and .007 seconds ahead of Busch.

The stunning win will likely lock Suarez into the playoffs – which coincidentally will begin in Atlanta later this year.

Here’s what drivers and fans were saying about the wild finish.

NASCAR at Atlanta: See the starting lineup for the Ambetter Health 400 with Michael McDowell on the pole

Some cool paint schemes lined up for NASCAR’s Atlanta weekend too.

Following Monday’s rain-delayed Daytona 500 — which William Byron won after some mild controversy from NASCAR officials at the very end — the NASCAR Cup Series is racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend.

The 2024 Ambetter Health 400 is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on Fox at the 1.54-mile track, and Michael McDowell will start on the pole after having the best performance in qualifying Saturday. It’s the first pole in McDowell’s 17 Cup seasons for his 467th career start, and he edged out Joey Logano to start first.

Here’s a look at the starting lineup for the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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NASCAR official explains the late Daytona 500 caution and how William Byron was declared the winner

What NASCAR looked at and how it determined when to throw the late caution, making William Byron the Daytona 500 winner.

No one wants a NASCAR race to finish under caution and definitely not the Daytona 500. But sometimes, it’s necessary, and that’s exactly what happened Monday night at the end of the rain-delayed 2024 Daytona 500 when William Byron took the checkered flag at Daytona International Speedway.

Finishing a race under caution — when the yellow flag is out and yellow lights are flashing — is hardly ideal because drivers aren’t actually racing. They’re maintaining their track positions and driving at a slowed, set pace, which doesn’t produce thrilling finishes.

But fans may want to know how and why NASCAR reached the decision to throw the caution flag at the end of Monday’s Daytona 500.

Here’s what happened: With a little more than one lap to go in the 200-lap race, Byron was leading the field on the inside lane ahead of Austin Cindric with Ross Chastain leading the outside lane. When Byron moved up to the outside lane, Chastain and Cindric made contact, which sent them both sliding off the track.

Unscathed, Byron and teammate Alex Bowman continued in the outside lane and crossed the start-finish line as the white flag was waving, signaling the last lap. But because of the crash, NASCAR threw the caution.

And because the caution came out after the last-lap white flag, and because Byron was the leader at the time of the yellow flag, he would be declared the winner once he completed the final caution lap.

Though Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet edged out Bowman’s No. 48 at the time of the caution flag, it was close.

So how did NASCAR officials come to this decision? NASCAR senior vice president of competition, Elton Sawyer, explained what factors were taken into consideration. He said, via NASCAR.com:

“At the end of a race, we use all available resources. So we’ll use [the time the] caution comes out. We’ll use video, timestamps. At the time of caution, it was the 24 [car] over the 48 [car].

“Obviously, we would love to have left it green and let it finish naturally. But once the [No.] 2 car had spun and started back up the race track and was going to be into traffic and oncoming traffic there, there was no choice but to throw the caution at that time.”

As Sawyer noted, the race likely would have continued under green if not for Cindric in the No. 2 Ford sliding back up the track into oncoming traffic. Understandably, that situation was dangerous, and NASCAR had throw the yellow flag.

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12 awesome photos of William Byron celebrating his 2024 Daytona 500 victory

William Byron won the 2024 Daytona 500 as cars around him wrecked.

The race started a day late and basically ended a lap early, but it all worked out pretty well for William Byron, who won Monday’s rain-delayed Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway’s iconic 2.5-mile track.

Coming to the white flag signaling the last lap of the race, Byron was racing hard to hold onto his lead the rest of the field, including Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman. But contact between Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric brought out a caution flag.

Because NASCAR officials determined Byron, the race leader, crossed the start-finish line to begin his final lap before the caution came out, the race was over, Byron was declared the winner and the No. 24 Chevrolet was back in Victory Lane at the Daytona 500. Bowman finished second, Christopher Bell third, Corey LaJoie fourth and Bubba Wallace fifth.

The season-opening win is the 11th career checkered flag of Byron’s career, as he begins his seventh full-time Cup Series season. And it comes on the heels of a standout career-best six-win 2023 season.

Here are 12 of the best photos from the end of the race and Byron and his team celebrating their 2024 Daytona 500 win.

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Twitter reacts to William Byron winning the Daytona 500 in a wild finish

William Byron escaped a massive accident at the end of the Daytona 500 and went on to win.

Hendrick Motorsports returned to victory lane in the Daytona 500 on Monday night, as William Byron finished ahead of teammate Alex Bowman at the line in a chaotic ending to the race.

The race for the win changed drastically inside of the final 10 laps, when a series of pushes from Bowman to Byron caused a massive accident that affected more than half of the field.

Byron was unable to keep his car straight and veered into the side of Brad Keselowski at the front of the pack. Keselowski shot up the track into Joey Logano, creating a huge pileup as cars had nowhere to go.

Crucially for Byron, he drove through unscathed, as did his teammate Bowman. Byron controlled the inside line coming to the white flag – but just as they were about to cross the line, a collision between Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric brought out a race-ending caution. As Byron had crossed the line to start the final lap before the caution began, he sealed his first Daytona 500 victory.

Here’s what fans were saying:

NASCAR history: Every Daytona 500 champion since 2000 (2024 edition)

The Daytona 500 is the biggest NASCAR race on the schedule, and drivers would do anything to win it.

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2022 and has been updated.

The Daytona 500 is one of the NASCAR Cup Series’ crown-jewel races. It’s the crown jewel of crown jewels and a race casually referred to as the Super Bowl of NASCAR. It is, by far, the biggest race of the NASCAR schedule, and it opens the season every year.

Drivers would do just about anything to take NASCAR’s most coveted checkered flag, and it has and continues to elude many of the sport’s best competitors.

RELATED: Why NASCAR’s Daytona track has its own massive lake

Winning the Daytona 500 can be a career- and life-changing moment, securing a driver’s permanent place in NASCAR history and hoisting the massive Harley J. Earl Trophy. So here’s a look back at all the Daytona 500 winners since 2000.

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Daytona 500 Draftkings salaries and best picks for your lineup

The best drivers to pick and ones to avoid for your Daytona 500 fantasy lineup.

After a long rain delay, the Daytona 500 will finally get underway in sunny Daytona on Monday afternoon (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX).

A pair of former Daytona 500 winners will start on the front row, with Joey Logano leading the field alongside Michael McDowell on the outside row.

Being a superspeedway race, anything can happen at Daytona – and we’ve had a string of surprise winners in recent years. Austin Dillon shocked the field in 2018, and after back-to-back Denny Hamlin wins the following two years, McDowell, Austin Cindric and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are the three most recent champions of NASCAR’s biggest race.

If you’re setting a DraftKings fantasy lineup for Monday, who should you take and who should you avoid? We’re here to help.

2024 Daytona 500 starting lineup: Joey Logano starts season on pole

See the full starting lineup for Sunday’s Daytona 500, with broadcast info and green flag time.

A new NASCAR Cup Series season will begin on Monday afternoon with the sport’s biggest race: the Daytona 500.

Although the weather forecast could wreak havoc on festivities at Daytona International Speedway, the green flag is scheduled to fly at 4:30 p.m. ET on Fox.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will give the command to start engines, and DJ Khaled will wave the green flag.

Team Penske’s Joey Logano won the pole position in qualifying, and will be joined on the front row by former Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell.

Here’s the full lineup of 40 drivers for Sunday’s race. Follow along with Motorsports Wire for full coverage of NASCAR’s opening weekend.

 

Daytona 500 weather update: Rain forces NASCAR to postpone race

Ongoing rain in Florida is forcing NASCAR to run a Daytona doubleheader on Monday.

NASCAR’s bad luck with weather continued in 2024 as the crown jewel of the schedule was forced to be postponed to Monday.

It’s been raining at Daytona International Speedway nearly nonstop since Saturday morning, and with persistent rain in the forecast until early Monday, there was zero chance that NASCAR would find a dry window to start the race.

Instead, fans sticking around in soggy Daytona will get a doubleheader, with both the Xfinity Series opener and the Daytona 500 set to run on Monday.

The 2024 Daytona 500 will start at 4:30 p.m. ET on Fox.

It’s still possible we see further weather delays. There’s a 30 percent chance of rain Monday morning, which tapers off to about a 10 percent chance by the time the Cup Series race is scheduled.

On Monday morning, the Xfinity Series’ United Rentals 300, originally scheduled for 11 a.m. ET, was postponed to 9 p.m. ET (FS1) due to rain.