Jenson Button says he has been surprised by how tight the points race is so far this year, and the fact that there is still as big a premium on consistency as outright speed.

The new scoring system introduced this season created a larger percentage difference in the points awarded to the first and second place finishers, the aim being to encourage drivers to race harder for victories. But after three races the championship table is headed by Felipe Massa, who has yet to win in 2010, with Bahrain winner Fernando Alonso [tied for] second with Malaysia victor Sebastian Vettel.

In fact, the top five spots in the drivers championship standings are separated by only four point. Massa leads with 39 and Nico Rossberg is in 5th with 34.  So even though a win is now worth an historically huge 25 points — well more than the nine that ruled for decades (9-6-4-3-2-1) until a win was boosted to 10 points in 2003 — the championship is very tight after three fly-away races.

Old F1 Points (2003-09)

There have been complaints that Formula One is not exciting this season. But based on the numbers, the 2010 F1 season is shaping up to be the most exciting in many years.