Picture Credit: X
You live to race. You race to win. And in the end, especially in the topsy turvy and the complicated world of Formula 1, the win can't be actually bigger and better than the Constructor's trophy triumph. Surprised? Stunned? Well, don't be. There's a reason to this.
Yet, the biggest question that remains is how is the Constructor's Championship decided? This means a lot, especially to those who are new to the sport because every now and again, there are young entrants to the sport who signify the youth fan following of the pinnacle of the world of Motor Racing and it's always healthy.
So then what are we waiting for? Let’s break it down the approach to understand the Constructor's Championship.
Here are the basics
Every single F1 team, and at the end of the day, in 2025, there are 10, before the new season introduces more, are officially known as a "constructor". So a constructor basically enters two cars in every race. That means, there are, in all, 20 cars on the F1 grid.
But the next big question is this - How are the points scored?
So in order to understand this particular matter, we need to understand that points are awarded, obviously from the onwards of the one who win in the end but only until the P10 on the grid (that means that driver who comes tenth in the race).
Anyone coming after P10, or eleventh as they say, will not and does not score any points.
But here's the P1 to P10 point breakdown in F1:
1st: 25 points
2nd: 18
3rd: 15
4th: 12
5th: 10
6th: 8
7th: 6
8th: 4
9th: 2
10th: 1
Until last year, the 2024 F1 championship season, an extra point was awarded to the driver with the fastest lap—but only if he happened to finish in the top 10. This rule has now been discontinued.
Every point counts: A basic F1 core philosophy
At the end of the day, the driver who scores points doesn't do it only by going quicker or lapping his competition faster.
What he also needs, and urgently so, race after race, is great strategy and consistency for they do factor in as essentials.
Here's how.
Even if one driver finishes P2 or second and the other comes in fifth, that’s 18 + 10 = 28 points in the bag for the team. Meanwhile, a team with just one driver scoring—say first place with 25 points may have won the F1 Grand Prix, but in terms of overall point scoring, he will have been left behind simply because his rivals team saw both drivers scoring points while on his side, only one of the two drivers scored, even if he himself ended up winning the Grand Prix.
Let us take the example of Ferrari: A Classic
The year was 2022 and it would mark the second year in succession wherein a relatively-young (at least at that point in time) driver pairing took to wearing the red racing overalls.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. were together at the Maranello-based outfit for the second year running.
But in this year, Charles Leclerc had multiple podiums, including wins, while teammate Carlos Sainz also delivered strong points finishes. Their combined efforts helped Ferrari secure second place in the Constructors’ standings, even though Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dominated the Driver’s Championship.
It was a great instance of two drivers scoring points consistently and thus usurping a competitive or rival Constructor on whose end, only one driver was predominantly the point scorer; in Red Bull's case, as has often been the case, Verstappen!
Now what about penalties?
With every competitive sport, F1 too, has penalties, lots of them.
Penalties, grid drops, and retirements don’t just hurt drivers—they affect constructors as well. A DNF (Did Not Finish) means zero point, which can hit hard in tight battles.
This really matters
Beyond pride, the Constructor's Championship comes with serious perks:
Prize Money: It’s a big slice of the sport’s financial pie.
Development Advantage: Better standings can influence resource allocation, especially under the cost cap and wind tunnel testing rules.
Sponsorship Value: Brands love a winning team, even if their driver isn’t World Champion.
Teamwork ticks the right boxes to attain the trophy
No win, at the end of the day, is bigger than the team's win. And surely, while Formula 1 is definitely, an individual-driven sport where the best driver or the fastest driver, as one calls it, rules the charts and tops the proceedings, he is able to do that only at the back of great temerity and skill provided to him via the car that is a result of the painstaking work put in by his engineerrs and the technical crew.
Therefore, it suffices to state that the Constructor's Championship is the ultimate team award in the dizzying heights of F1.
It's here where the triumvirate of the Engineers, Strategists, Pit crews, and of course, the two drivers after that, lead to glory.
And while some fans even argue it’s the constructor's win is the bigger success measurement tool than even the driver's title triumph simply because at the end of the day, you are measuring the entire effort of an F1 team.
So who wins this year's F1 Constructor title will once again be an important factor to measure the dominace of the ten teams out there and the noted constructors or works teams such as McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault but from the looks of it, it seems that it is going McLaren's way.
One is sure that both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri would agree.
