How does the Formula 1 points system work?

Points are awarded to the top ten finishers in each Grand Prix, on a sliding scale, with additional points available in some circumstances.

The race scale is 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 for first through tenth. Eleventh and below score nothing.

One extra point is available for the fastest lap, but only if that driver finishes in the top ten — a rule added to stop a driver out of contention pitting for fresh tyres purely to steal the point.

Sprint races, held at a handful of rounds, award points to the top eight on a separate 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 scale. The sprint is a short race and its result does not set the Grand Prix grid under the current format.

Two championships run in parallel. The Drivers' Championship counts each driver's points. The Constructors' Championship counts both of a team's cars combined, and it determines prize money, which is why teams care about it as much as drivers care about the other.

If a race is stopped early and cannot be resumed, reduced points apply on a sliding scale based on how much distance was completed — a rule rewritten after the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix awarded half points for what amounted to two laps behind a safety car.

Ties are broken by countback: most wins, then most second places, and so on.

The scale has changed repeatedly since 1950. The current 25-point win dates from 2010, replacing a 10-point system that had stood since 1991 and which made consistency worth relatively more than winning.

One consequence of the current spread is that a retirement is far more costly than it used to be. Under the old 10-point system the gap between first and second was two points; now it is seven, so a single non-finish can undo several strong weekends.