A Grand Prix race winner will receive 25 points for his efforts this year with the second and third placed drivers receiving 18 and 15 respectively. This continues all the way down to tenth position where one point is awarded.
The thinking behind the change is to try and encourage drivers to actually overtake one another, something lacking at many races in recent times. The thinking is that with a bigger points difference between the top positions, the risk is worthwhile.
“It’s a good decision to change this points system," Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost told the Times. "The reason for it is we are pushing for more overtaking manoeuvres. We just hope this will be the case.”
Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn believes that the greater points gap will be successful and that there will be more on-track passing this year.
"There is a much stronger incentive for the person in second place to try to beat the guy in front," Brawn told the BBC. "The argument is if there’s only two points, it’s not such an incentive. If it’s seven it’s much more attractive."
The change in the points system was first put forward by the Formula One Teams’ Association last March and has since been adapted and revised by the FIA Formula One Commission.