The Formula 1 World Championship is a thrilling, high-speed competition where drivers battle it out over a season of global Grand Prix races. At the heart of the sport are its standings – which rank each driver and team’s performance over the course of the season.
The top ten finishers in each race secure points for their teams and at the end of the season, the drivers with the most points are crowned champions of both the Drivers’ Championship and the Constructors’ Championship. When a driver moves between teams over the course of a season, they retain their individual driver points but their previous team receives all the constructor points they earn in each Grand Prix.
Pole position is awarded to the fastest driver in qualifying, which gives them a significant advantage at the start of the race and an opportunity to lead the pack into turn one. Finishing on the podium – or the top three positions in a Grand Prix or Sprint race – is worth the most points, with first place awarded 25 points, second receiving 18 and third scoring 15 points. Drivers also earn points if they complete the full race, although they don’t get as many as those who finish in the top ten.
It’s a fact of F1 life that the fiercest rivalries often play out between team mates. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg’s fight for the Drivers’ Championship in 2014 and 2016 is a prime example. Similarly, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet were a formidable team-mate duo for Williams in 1986, winning nine of the sixteen Grand Prix races that season.