Bernie Ecclestone has written a letter to all 11 Formula 1 teams asking them to endorse the idea of extending the double points rule to the final three races, not just Abu Dhabi.
The 82-year-old had originally hoped for the final three races to be worth 50 points for a win instead of the usual 25 to keep the title fight alive for longer, but the teams failed to support the idea and, as a compromise, voted for just one race, the final in Abu Dhabi, to be worth double.
The idea, which hasn’t been welcomed by fans and has even been dismissed by several drivers – including world champion Sebastian Vettel – who described it as “nonsense”.
“In my opinion that is nonsense,” he said. “I don’t understand why one race should be more ‘valuable’ than another. It would be like in football if they changed the rules by saying that a goal scored in the last five minutes counted double. Nobody would think of something bizarre like that.”
Ecclestone is keen to convince the teams that it’s a good idea, but it would require all 11 to vote in favour of the change for it to happen at this stage in the season.
The teams, if pushed to allocate double points against more than one race, are more keen on awarding ‘historical’ races such as the British, German, Italian and Monaco grands prix with the honour.
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