The decision by the FIA to move to a winner-takes-all championship was met with huge opposition from fans, drivers and teams. The new points system meant that the driver with the most points will not necessarily win the championship. Instead, the driver with the most wins will get the title. Points will only be used if two or more drivers had the same number of victories.

Online petitions were launched by fans infuriated by this new system. World champions Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso all slammed the new rules. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and Renault team boss Flavio Briatore both also spoke about their disappointment that the FIA had decided to ignore FOTA’s suggestion of changing the points system to 12-9-6-5-4-3-2-1 and instead going for a system that no-one approves.

The controversy caused the FIA to retract their decision, saying that it will be deferred to the 2010 season instead. Whether the teams will be more willing to implement this system a year from now is highly doubtful, but Bernie Ecclestone (the president and CEO of F1) is adamant that the new system will be implemented eventually.

The other announcement by the FIA that teams will have the option of a budget cap, in exchange for engineering freedom, has also been disapproved by many drivers. The main concern is that a two-tier Formula 1 system will appear from this rule, with the teams opting for the budget cap either having a huge advantage or disadvantage over the other cars. However, with this rule only coming into effect in 2010 there is still a lot of time for the FIA to change their minds (again).