Formula 1 standings track the relative performance of teams and drivers in a sport where one tiny mistake can cost you dearly. Twenty drivers, two from each team, race for championship points across a demanding calendar of races and shorter, preliminary events known as Sprint races. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins the prestigious World Constructors’ Championship, which carries considerable financial benefits in the form of prize money.
There’s also the Drivers’ Championship, a title that recognizes an individual driver’s outstanding skill behind the wheel. Points are awarded for finishing positions in each race and for setting the fastest lap. It’s been won by a wide variety of talent since the championship was established in 1958, with some of the sport’s most celebrated names including Jim Clark, Alain Prost and Lewis Hamilton.
F1 teams battle for victory across a demanding schedule and, in an era of ever-rising costs, there is no room for error. It has been a long time since the days when the four major pre-war manufacturers (Ferrari, McLaren, Williams and Renault) dominated F1; today, a more equitable distribution of prize money along with the introduction of the halo cockpit safety system has helped level the playing field for teams at both ends of the table.
Nevertheless, it has come down to the final race of the season eight times in 74 years of F1 history. A remarkable feat, when you consider that in 2007 it was won by just a single point between Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton.