F1 taken aback by double points storm

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 04: Toto Wolff the Executive Director of Mercedes looks on during the Mercedes GP F1 W04 Launch at Circuito de Jerez on February 4, 2013 in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. (Photo by Justin Davies/Getty Images)

JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 04: Toto Wolff the Executive Director of Mercedes looks on during the Mercedes GP F1 W04 Launch at Circuito de Jerez on February 4, 2013 in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. (Photo by Justin Davies/Getty Images)

Published Jan 30, 2014

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Jerez, Spain - Formula One may have to 'revisit' a controversial rule change awarding double points for the final race of the season because of the backlash from fans,

Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff told reporters at pre-season testing in southern Spain: “I think obviously the shitstorm we got afterwards was something which was not expected.

“We discussed it up and down and the reason was that for the past few years we have seen the dominance of a driver and team and the television audiences were not as expected.

“Was it the right move or not? Ninety nine percent of our fans and spectators, and this is what counts, told us it was the wrong move.”

“So perhaps it is something to revisit.”

Social media has been abuzz with opposition to what many see as a needless gimmick ever since the sport's rulers announced the change in December as a means of keeping the title battle open for longer.

Red Bull has won four consecutive Drivers' and Constructors' titles, with Sebastian Vettel wrapping up his fourth straight championship with three races to spare in 2013.

Vettel has called the rule change 'absurd', Caterham team owner Tony Fernandes dubbed it a 'fake fix' and Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo finds it too artificial for his liking.

However, a meeting of Formula One's strategy group in Switzerland in January failed to overturn it and the change remains in the 2014 regulations.

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“We decided to keep it for the moment,” said Wolff. “There are discussions ongoing.

“There are some arguments in favour,” added the Austrian, whose team finished runner-up in 2013 and could dethrone Red Bull this season if their new V6 engine proves to be the pick of the field.

“If for whatever reason we have the same kind of power situation with one of the teams, you add a little spice towards the end of the season,” said Wolff.

“Things need to be done, and when you see TV audiences generally dropping then you need to try out things. This maybe wasn't the right thing, but maybe we need to find out.”

Red Bull principal Christian Horner said the fans had to be listened to.

“I don't think that it's any secret that I wasn't particularly in favour of double points,” he added.

“I can understand why the governing body and the promoter are keen to keep the championship alive, or hope in the championship alive, until the last race but two out of the past four years it's gone to the final race under the previous points scoring system.

“It would probably be better to look at three races, to take away an element of lottery over that last race.”

Reuters

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