F1’s bonus point adds needed spice

Formula One’s bonus point system for the fastest lap didn’t go down well in all circles before the start of this season, but it took just three races for the new rule to be justified.

In case you have somehow missed the implementation on the bonus point, it gets awarded to the driver who clocks the fastest lap during a race, providing he finishes in the top 10. It’s a reintroduction of a rule that was used in the 1950s and was instrumental in determining the world champion in 1958 when Mike Hawthorn beat Stirling Moss by one point after earning two bonus points that

season.

In Melbourne Valtteri Bottas became the first man in six decades to win the bonus point to secure maximum points after his win and in Bahrain it was a tiny consolation for Charles Leclerc after he had to be content with third place after a faulty cylinder cost him a comfortable lead. Yet, when he secured the bonus point, he was flying low like Bottas in Australia when he secured the fastest lap Down Under.

But in China Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly upset the applecart by snatching the bonus point away from the usual suspects Mercedes and Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel, who was also in control of things before Mercedes stole Scuderia’s thunder, looked set to secure the bonus point along with his third place with just a few laps left. But Red Bull had other ideas. Gasly was sitting in sixth spot with no chance of gaining on Leclerc in fifth when somebody in his garage noticed traffic wouldn’t be a problem in the pursuit of the fastest lap, put two and two together and decided to bring him in for a fresh set of rubber. The Frenchman duly obliged and on his very last lap of the race, knocked Vettel off his perch.

Gasly’s achievement unfortunately didn’t quite get the attention it deserves at the chequered flag, as the commentators were waxing lyrical as usual over Lewis Hamilton’s win. In all fairness, Gasly’s effort was much more exciting than anything the race dished up before then.

Mercedes dominating again? Yawn. I thought that is what they have been doing for the past, I don’t know, for the past six years. And if they carry on in that vein this season and Ferrari continue to miss the plot, there won’t be a hell of a lot of excitement from a pure entertainment point of view. Bottas beating Hamilton is probably the most exciting prospect for the title race, and even that won’t guarantee everyone staying awake during races.

But this bonus point thing, now there’s a blessing in disguise.