Lewis Hamilton (left) holds the record for the highest number ofWorld Drivers' Championship points scored, andScuderia Ferrari (right) maintains the record for the highest number of points attained in theWorld Constructors' Championship. However, the number of points awarded for identical results, as well as the number of races per season, have changed over the years, so comparison between drivers or teams cannot be done by points alone.
Formula One, abbreviated to F1, is the highest class ofopen-wheeledauto racing series administered by theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body.[1] The "formula" in the name alludes to a series of rules set by the FIA to which all participants and vehicles are required to conform.[1][2] TheF1 World Championship season consists of a series of races, known asGrands Prix, usually held on purpose-builtcircuits, and in a few cases onclosed city streets.[3] A points scoring system is used for each Grand Prix held over the course of the F1 season to determine the outcome of two annual championships, one for drivers (World Drivers' Championship) since1950, and one for constructors (World Constructors' Championship) since1958.[1][4] Each driver accumulates championship points individually in the World Drivers' Championship and collectively for the team they compete for in the World Constructors' Championship.[4] Both championships are formally awarded at the end-of-seasonFIA Prize Giving Ceremony to the driver and team with the most points.[4][5][6]
As of the2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix,[update] 356 drivers have scored Drivers' Championship points,[7] and 73 out of 170 teams have scored Constructors' Championship points,[8] in 1,149 World Championship races.[9]Lewis Hamilton has the highest Drivers' Championship points total with 5018.5,Max Verstappen is second with 3444.5 andSebastian Vettel is third with 3098.[7]Scuderia Ferrari holds the record for the highest Constructors' Championship points total with 10722,Red Bull Racing is second with 8288, andMercedes is third with 8159.5.[8] Drivers received an equal points distribution share if they shared a car with another or set the same fastest lap as another between 1950 and1957. Second drivers of teams who officially entered only one car were ineligible for points on two occasions involving three drivers.[10][11]
The points scoring has been changed several times throughout F1 history.[10][12] Participants in every season until1990 could only achieve Drivers' Championship points for their best-placed finishes in a specified maximum number of races.[12] Up until1979, most years saw only the highest-scoring participant in each Grand Prix for each constructor contributing points towards the Constructors' title.[10] From1950 to1959, the top five finishers of each race plus thefastest lap setter tallied points. The format was expanded to include the first six finishers of each event between1960 and2002 but with no point for fastest lap.[12] In2003, the FIA revised the structure to the top eight finishers of each race.[13] The FIA extended the system again to include the first ten Grand Prix finishers in2010.[14] EachGrand Prix winner tallied 8 points from1950 to1960, 9 from1961 to1990, 10 between1991 and2009, and 25 since2010.[12]
Half points were awarded for six Grands Prix that werered-flagged before a certain threshold in a race progression was reached (at different times being either 60% or 75% of the scheduled race distance);[15][16] starting from around 1977 to 1980 until the end of the 2021 season,[15] no points were able to be accumulated should a race conclude early with the leader having completed two or fewer laps.[17] Following the2021 Belgian Grand Prix in which half points were awarded to the first ten finishers despite no racing laps being completed, the standards by which a driver can tally championship points should a Grand Prix be suspended before full distance is covered and not be restarted, were changed to a gradual scale system beginning in2022. No points are awarded unless the race leader completes two or more racing laps without the intervention of asafety car orvirtual safety car. Only the top five finishers are eligible for championship points if the race leader completes more than two racing laps but covers less than 25% of the race distance. That switches to the top nine places should the race leader complete between 25% and 50% of race distance. If the race leader covers between 50% and 75% of race distance then participants finishing in the top ten positions tally points. Full championship points are tallied should the race leader complete 75% or more of the scheduled race distance.[18][19] Following initial confusion over how points were awarded at the2022 Japanese Grand Prix, the FIA clarified the drivers are also eligible for full points if the race finishes under green flag conditions regardless of the percentage of the scheduled race distance that has been covered.[20] In2023, the FIA clarified that shortened races would be subject to the gradual scale system "if the race distance from the start signal to the end-of-session signal is less than the scheduled race distance."[21]
Sprint qualifying was introduced in2021 to set the starting order at three Grands Prix that season and the top three finishers of each of these mini-races received points.[22] The first eight drivers were awarded points in three sprint races in 2022,[23] and in six sprint races in 2023.[24]
The fastest lap bonus point was re-introduced in2019, however only drivers and constructors who finished in the top ten are eligible to score the point.[25] From 2022, the fastest lap point is only awarded if 50% or more of the scheduled race distance is completed.[19] The FIA abolished the fastest lap point rule for the2025 season onwards.[26] Unlike various other motor racing series, F1 has never awarded bonus points to drivers for leading the most laps (e.g., theIndyCar Series) or qualifying onpole position (e.g., the F1 feeder series, such asFormula 2 andFormula 3).[12]
Jim Clark is the only driver to score maximum points in a season, claiming 54 points in both1963 and1965, when only the best six results counted towards the championship—Clark won seven and six Grands Prix, respectively. More recently,Michael Schumacher finished on the podium in every race in the2002 season, earning 144 of a possible 170 points (84.70%).[37]Max Verstappen set numerous points-related records in his2023 campaign, scoring a record 575 of 620 available (92.74%), which eclipsed his previous numerical record of 454 from2022.[38] The most dominant World Constructors' Champion in recent times wasMcLaren in1988, scoring 199 of a maximum 240 points and finishing 134 points ahead of its nearest rival.[39][40] In 2002, Ferrari scored 221 points, as many as all the other teams combined.[41]
^abcdThe World Constructors' Championship was not awarded from1950 to1957.[27]
^abPoints for shared drives were shared equally between the drivers, regardless of how many laps each driver completed.[10]
^abcdePoints were shared equally between drivers who set the same fastest lap time (an extreme example of which happened in the1954 British Grand Prix where seven drivers set the same fastest lap time, and each received1⁄7 of a point).[28]
^abPoints for shared drives were shared equally between the drivers, even if they drove more than one points-scoring car (e.g.1955 Argentine Grand Prix), unless one driver was deemed to have completed "insufficient distance" (e.g.1957 British Grand Prix).[11]
^Drivers who shared more than one car in a race only received points for their highest finish (e.g.1956 Monaco Grand Prix).[11]
^abcdFormula 2 cars raced withFormula One cars in the following Grands Prix, but were ineligible for World Championship points:
^abcdefghiOnly the points of the highest-scoring driver for each constructor at each race (including privateer entries) were counted towards the Constructors' Championship.[10]
^abThe point for fastest lap was only awarded to drivers, not constructors.[10]
^abcThe points in theIndianapolis 500 were only awarded only to drivers and not constructors.[10]
^Points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the 1961 Drivers' title, and on an 8–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the 1961 Constructors' title.[29]
^Drivers who were not classified (i.e. did not complete a specified amount of race distance) did not score points, even if they finished in the top six places.[11]
^abThe requirement to complete two laps is believed to have been implemented between 1977 and 1980.[15]
^The regulation regarding half-points in the case ofexactly two laps being completed was slightly amended in 2016; no race was affected by this amendment.[33]
^In 2022, if a Grand Prix was restarted but was subsequently shortened due to reaching the regulations-imposed time limit – as had happened at the2022 Japanese Grand Prix – then full points were awarded.[34][35]
^Starting in 2023, the number of points awarded is based on percentage of distance covered regardless of whether a race is ended under a red flag, or is restarted and then subsequently shortened due to reaching the regulations-imposed time limit.[36] This change to the regulations was made in order to correct a drafting error in the 2022 regulations, which saw full points unexpectedly awarded at the2022 Japanese Grand Prix, which only saw 28 laps completed before the time limit expired.[21]
Jones, Bruce (2015).World Formula 1 Records 2016 (Fifth ed.). London, England: SevenOaks.ISBN978-1-78177-268-3.
Arron, Simon; Dodgins, Tony (2022).Formula One: The Pinnacle: The Pivotal Events That Made Formula 1 Motorsport's Greatest Series. Brighton, England: Ivy Press.ISBN978-0-7112-7420-4.
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