The spectre of double points has been hanging over the Hamilton/Rosberg battle all season, and after Brazil it is clear that the unpopular new rule could yet make the difference in the German’s favour.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff insisted at Interlagos that whatever happens the rules have been the same for everyone, but made it clear that he wants to see a change for next year. He’s more concerned that a technical issue for Lewis could be the deciding factor.
“You could say that the rules are the rules, and we know what the rules are,” said Wolff. “If you lose because you haven’t got enough points it goes into the history books that you either won it or lost it. And that’s a matter of fact. Then if you imagine a scenario that the championship is being turned by a DNF for example, a technical issue, that would obviously put a big shadow over the championship.
“I would very much hope for a straight fight between the two of them at the last race, and they will give it all, and hopefully the double points will not make a difference.”
Asked if Rosberg would be a worthy champion even if it does turn on double points he said: “Whoever has most points at the end of the season is the World Champion. You have to be as pragmatic, even though some of us, if it really comes down to that situation, might have a different feeling about it, it’s what it is, and as I said before, whoever wins the championship is going to have his name in the record books. And that’s it.”
Wolff keen to see the double points rule abandoned for 2015.
“Nobody likes the double points. We are going to discuss that next time around. I don’t think Bernie likes it. So it’s probably something that we should be getting rid of for next season.”
Meanwhile RBR boss Christian Horner was non-committal on the subject: “I think you’ve got to wait until after the next race. I think it’s great that the championship is going down to the wire. It becomes an element of luck involved in what the outcome is at that last race. Difficult to think that Lewis has won 10 races to Nico’s five, and it’s all so tight.”
Adam Cooper's F1 Blog 
The WDC leading driver would never like the double points, a close second place driver LOVES the idea! Right Nico?
Justifiably it should be abandoned. Someone will always have the chance of getting screwed at the last race.
to be fair though, nico has fairly consistently said he doesn’t like the idea, even now. of course, he’s not going to complain if the cards fall in his favor, but he’s certainly aware of how his WDC will be perceived should he win.
Agreed, it’s a lose-lose situation for Nico. Even if he wins due to a DNF by Lewis it will always be a tainted title; but anyone would take it regardless, the drivers didn’t make the rule, just run by what they’re given.
Yes, please get rid of the double points. Please… I see the reasoning why they have them in WEC for the Le Mans 24 hours, but in F1 it’s just another bit of fakery that detracts from the actual racing.
And while they’re discussing, could we also get rid of the stupid standing restarts? The Virtual Safety Car system is the best idea F1 has had for a long time, since it neutralises the race while maintaining the relative distances between the cars. For those instances where a more thorough control of the cars is needed – for instance if there’s enough debris on the track that you can’t safely drive around it (and the cleaning crew) – why not just red flag the race? In either case, having a standing restart seems like a daft idea, and yet another bit of fake excitement such as the double points, DRS and disintegrating tyres.
Come to think of it – maybe the safety car itself is hardly needed anymore – you either use the VSC system or red flag the race. For the restart, you could use the VSC for a warm-up lap and then just go green. Or if you’re bent on having a standing restart, just mimic the original start procedure – have the cars do a warm-up lap and then pull into the grid slots, and hit the lights. At least then, the standing restart would make some sort of sense – as opposed to running around behind the SC and then stopping on the grid. Plus, as a bonus there would be no need to ferry that SLS around the world…
Christian Horner has become the slimiest, most hypocritical, two-faced villain of a team principal. Even when he’s only saying minorly annoying things like here, he still comes across not as a shrewd political operator, but rather, as an ignoble, craven, cynical user.
Who cares what Wolff or Mercedes think about the rules! Us fans should not at any case.
Mercedes and Renault want to turn F1 into an economy run primarily designed to promote rad car technology.
The fans want to see drivers having to race on the limit for the full race distance and have their senses assaulted. Not watch drivers going at 80-90% in an endurance run dressed up as a billboard with nice quiet engines that don’t hurt the ears of the bored traditional paddock faces, like your mate Joe Saward.