Formula 1 standings are the results of all drivers and teams’ performance across a season of Grands Prix. Using a complex points system, the results of every race are calculated and contribute to live rankings throughout the season. It’s a dynamic system, which means that the smallest mistake or brilliant maneuver can have a huge impact on a driver’s overall standing.
As the season progresses, a driver’s ranking will rise and fall depending on their consistency. The drivers who have accumulated the most points by the end of the season will be crowned the world champion and take home the constructors’ title. Those positions are also used to determine the prize money that will be awarded to each team at the end of each year.
F1 has had several different scoring systems over its 74-year history and the current distribution of points is a result of an agreement reached between two opposing groups within the sport. One group, led by Jean-Marie Balestre, wanted to keep the sport as it was and allow teams to use all of their horsepower, while the other side, known as FOCA, was headed by Bernie Ecclestone and pushed for changes that would allow them to make more dramatic technical advances.
Dead heats between drivers have been known to happen, though never to decide the championship itself. In such cases the winner is decided on a countback of wins; if both drivers have equal numbers then second place finishes are used, and so on until there’s a point difference.