Brawn: "Would be quite controversial" if title would be decided by bonus point
F1 News
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
F1's technical director Ross Brawn sees the reintroduction of the bonus point in F1 as a success so far, as the Brit is aware it could cause controversy should a championship be decided by it.
2019 wasn't a close fight for the title, with Lewis Hamilton clinching his sixth title with two races to spare, but the idea of a bonus point could be valuable in a close title fight.
Should a driver (who finishes in the top 10) get the fastest lap of the race, he gets a single extra championship point. While this doesn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things, it does have the potential to decide titles, should a close fight take place.
“I think it would be quite controversial, I don’t doubt that, but that opportunity is available,” Brawn told RaceFans.net about that possibility.
“If you do that, should the guy who’s leading the championship come in and try and emulate what you’ve done? You can see various scenarios. Maybe the guy who goes for the fastest lap falls off because he’s trying to set the fastest lap.
“I think it’s a legitimate part of your armoury once you have your mindset around the fact that that is a legitimate way of scoring a point and should be taken into account.”
In 2019, plenty of drivers have made 'free pit-stops' at the end of a race (meaning the gap behind them is big enough to do a pit stop without losing a position). This would all be in an attempt to secure the fastest lap and thus the bonus point.
“I’ve seen quite a few failed efforts as well, which is quite amusing. They’re coming in and bolting on a new set of tyres to try and do it and they haven’t achieved it.