Formula 1 standings are a real-time indicator of where drivers and teams stand in a complex contest of engineering, strategy, and teamwork. It’s a sport where a fraction of a second can make all the difference and a single point can transform an entire season.
F1 has seen many different scoring systems in its history but the current one, which was first implemented in 1991, is the most straightforward. Each team enters two cars and the points scored by both of them in each race are added together. The team with the most points at the end of the season wins the FIA Formula 1 World Constructors Championship, which also has significant financial implications through prize money distribution.
It’s not unusual for a team’s drivers to fight it out for the Drivers’ Championship – and some of the sport’s greatest battles have been between a team mate. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, for example, took the Drivers’ Championship down to the wire while they were team mates at Mercedes, with Hamilton winning in 2014 and Rosberg taking the title the following year.
Drivers are rewarded for finishing within the top 10 in each race, with the winner of a race receiving 25 points. The next place finisher receives 18 points and so on down to the tenth placed driver who earns just a single point. Previously, an extra point was awarded for setting the fastest lap but this was removed in 2025 ahead of a number of rule changes.