Ecclestone Would Have Lost Under Own Medals Plan

Ecclestone is pushing for the title to go to the driver who wins most races in a season, rather than the one with most points.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone would have lost out if his plan to decide the title with Olympic-style medals had been in place when he was a team boss, the sport's governing body highlighted on Friday.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) published a detailed analysis of how Ecclestone's proposal would have affected the Formula One championship since the first race in 1950.

It showed that the history books would have looked very different, with some greats adding to their tally of titles and others missing out altogether.

Stirling Moss would have been the first British world champion in 1958, instead of the late Mike Hawthorn, and there would have been a different winner in 12 other years.

Nelson Piquet, champion with Ecclestone's Brabham team in 1981 and 1983, would have lost out in both years to Renault's Alain Prost. The Brazilian would not have won his other crown with Williams in 1987 either.

Ecclestone is pushing for the title to go to the driver who wins most races in a season, rather than the one with most points, to encourage overtaking.

The Briton has suggested awarding gold, silver and bronze medals to the top three in each race with the champion being the driver with the most golds at the end of the season.

The FIA said last month that the idea, which could be put to the sport's world motor sport council before the start of the season in Australia on March 29, needed more research.

The Formula One Teams' Association (FOTA) is also conducting a survey of fans.

FEWER CHAMPIONS

With the exception of last season, when Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa won more races than McLaren's Lewis Hamilton but lost by a point, the last 20 years would have had the same champion under either system.

Three drivers who failed to win on points would have been champions using medals -- Moss, France's Didier Pironi instead of Finland's Keke Rosberg in 1982 and Massa.

However there would have been fewer champions overall, with Brazilian Ayrton Senna becoming a four-times winner rather than three, Britain's Jim Clark also taking four titles instead of two and compatriot Nigel Mansell winning three rather than one.

Austrian Niki Lauda would have retired with one championship and not three, American Mario Andretti would have taken two instead of one and Frenchman Prost would have won five.

South African Jody Scheckter, whose success for Ferrari in 1979 was the Italian team's last title until Michael Schumacher triumphed in 2000, would have lost to Australian Alan Jones.

Britain's John Surtees would not have become the only man to win titles on four wheels and two, with Clark beating him on wins in 1964. New Zealand's Denny Hulme would have missed out to Clark in 1967.

The FIA said 14 championships would have been decided more quickly using medals while eight would have gone on longer.

Five championships that went down to the wire would have ended earlier while six others would have been last-race showdowns, including Spaniard Fernando Alonso's first title with Renault in 2005.