The FIA Formula 1 championship is the pinnacle of motorsport – and arguably the most prestigious. It’s a series that pits the world’s top drivers and teams against one another, and is defined by its strict rules that cover everything from engine specifications to the size of tyres. It’s a sport that demands excellence from its competitors, but the rules are designed to encourage competition and balance raw talent with strategic acumen.
As such, the F1 standings reflect the combined efforts of a team’s drivers and engineers, as well as its strategists. The constructor standings track all the points scored by a team throughout the season and the team with the most at the end of the season is crowned champions in the Constructors’ Championship.
Driver standings, meanwhile, reflect a driver’s overall performance across the season. This includes points scored in the races themselves, as well as setting fastest lap times and achieving other noteworthy performances. During the course of the season, the standings can move up and down as different events take place, and consistency is crucial to a driver’s chances of winning the title.
The current F1 scoring system rewards the winners of each race with 25 points, while second place receives 18 and third places earn 15. Drivers who finish in a lower position will not score any points, and the last placed driver will get just 1 point. Dead heats in the Drivers’ Championship have never happened, but if two drivers were level on points at the end of a season, the decision would be made using a countback of results. The winner of the first countback is crowned champion.