How are points distributed in the Formula 1 World Championship?

With Charles Leclerc’s win at Bahrain, the drama was all in the following cars. Both Red Bull’s cars gave up in the final moments, gifting Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz second place. With Lewis Hamilton jumping from fifth to third, the points really add up.

The points awarded for each place make up the cumulative score for each driver and team for the season. For each, the 102 points on offer each race are divvied out like this:

In addition to place points, one additional point is awarded to the driver and team with the fastest lap of the race, as long as they finish within the top 10 positions.

If a race has to be abandoned for any reason before 75% of the planned distance has been completed, all points are cut in half.

The maximum possible for any driver would be finishing every race in the calendar in first place, which would yield 550 points. This has never been accomplished, although the closest to this feat was Lewis Hamilton in the 2019 season, where he garnered a staggering 413 points. Of the 21 races that season, he either won or finished on the podium in 17.

For a team, the highest would be having their cars finish in first and second place in every race, for a theoretical 946 points. Mercedes managed to accrue 765 constructor points in the 2016 season, and hold the top six spots in the list of Most single-season points.

After Bahrain, the points table stands as follows: