F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Domenicali suggests 'Grand Slam' bonus points for dominant drivers

Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali has tabled the idea of awarding bonus championship points to drivers who achieve a maximum level of domination during a Grand Prix weekend.

Staring at this summer's British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Formula 1 will trial at three venues its innovative Sprint Qualifying format where the winner will be awarded three points while second place will be worth two points and third place worth one point.

As the sport seeks new ways to incentivize drivers and improve the show for the fans, Domenicali has suggested that F1 could introduce a 'Grand Slam' of sorts, whereby a driver that qualifies on pole and wins the following day after leading every lap while also setting the fastest lap would be eligible for extra points.

Historically, such an accomplishment has been a rare occurrence in modern F1, even for seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton who carried out the feat only six times over the course of his 98 career wins in F1.

"What is also on the mind is to create a grand slam bonus so to speak, where a driver who wins qualifying, the sprint race and the race gets extra points or something," Domenicali told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"We have to see what could be linked to that, but we are thinking about rewarding that grand slam at some GPs where we would use Sprint Qualifying in the future.

"We could use this set-up at historical venues in the coming years to make them even more special."

By testing new formats, Formula 1 aims to improve its spectacle but also to broaden its audience and attract a younger demographic to the sport.

"We are growing fast, we can see that in the TV and social media figures and of course we are very happy with that," added Domenicali.

"The young generation is also showing more and more interest in the sport.

"Of course we still have a lot of work to do, but we are currently in a very good time with Formula 1 and the sport is growing fast.

"That is why we are constantly thinking about how we can make it even better. We want to show the fans even more.

"We are also going to have a season where we are going to keep excitement in the season until the end of the year, which will make the fans even more interested."

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Michael Delaney

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