When the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council first floated the idea of awarding a new bonus point for the driver who sets the fastest lap in a grand prix, RaceFans asked you how you felt about the idea.
Two-thirds of you either slightly or strongly disagreed with the idea, with just 25% either slightly or strongly agreeing with the idea of giving a bonus point to the driver who sets the fastest lap in the race.
However, the FIA apparently did not take the thoughts of RaceFans readers into account as they promptly approved the proposal and introduced the point for fastest lap for the start of that season. During that year’s summer break, RaceFans asked you what you felt of the rule after 12 rounds to judge it. This time, just under half of you believed the bonus point had not made the racing more exciting, while 36% of you agreed, to some degree, that it had.
But now, after five-and-a-half seasons in the sport, the fastest lap has been brought back under the spotlight once again. Last weekend in Singapore, Daniel Ricciardo was called in to the pits in the closing laps of the race to fit almost-new soft tyres and snatch the fastest lap from race leader Lando Norris. Although RB team principal Laurent Mekies insisted after the race it had purely been a goodwill gesture to their departing driver – despite zero recognition over the rest of the weekend that this could be Ricciardo’s last grand prix – the fact that Ricciardo denied Norris a point in his pursuit of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen rubbed many fans the wrong way.
So with the fastest lap bonus point generating plenty of discussion once more, it’s as good a time as any to see how you, the fans, feel about this element of the sport.
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F1’s approach
Formula 1’s current fastest lap rule remains the same as it was when first introduced before the start of the 2019 season. Article 6.2 of F1’s sporting regulations states that “one point will be awarded to the driver who achieved the fastest valid lap time of the race and to the constructor whose car he was driving, provided he was in the top ten positions of the final race classification”.
The rule also clarifies that “no point will be awarded if the fastest valid lap time is achieved by a driver who was classified outside the top ten positions, or if the leader has completed less than 50% of the scheduled race distance.”.
So far in 2024, there have been 14 fastest lap bonus points awarded over the 18 rounds, with a bonus point not awarded in China, Miami, Austria and Singapore as the drivers who set the fastest lap in those races finished outside of the top ten.
What alternatives are there?
There are two obvious means by which the fastest lap rule could be modified that would avoid further controversies as was seen in Singapore last weekend.
The first would be to simply extend the bonus point eligibility to all classified finishers, no matter their finishing position. That would offer teams lower down the order, like Sauber, more chances to fight for points when fighting for the top ten is proving especially difficult this year with an unprecedented high reliability rate.
However, there is an obvious problem with that. Towards the ends of races – assuming a driver towards the front has not made a late stop for fresh tyres and likely already cemented fastest lap – there would be a rush of cars outside the top ten pitting for softs to turn the end of the race into an impromptu qualifying session. Not only could that potentially disrupt late battles at the front, it also could make for some fairly farcical scenes at the finish of races and encourage teams like Sauber to preserve their cars through a race specifically for a late run at the fastest lap, rather than actually racing.
Alternatively, the fastest lap bonus point could simply go to the driver who lap of the race out of the top ten finishers, rather than not being awarded at all. Drivers who set the overall fastest lap could still be presented with the award from Pirelli and have their lap posted on social media to show everyone what a good job they did, but the actual point would go to whichever driver in the top ten had achieved the fastest lap time instead.
That may seem a more deserving approach to handing out the bonus point as it will likely be to a driver who was fighting the entire race for their top ten position, but it would also help to prevent any further controversies if an RB driver just so happens to ‘steal’ the fastest lap point away from their senior team’s championship rivals.
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I say
To be blunt, the fastest lap bonus point was never a good idea for Formula 1. It was ill-suited to the series before it was introduced, has added little value to the racing or the championship in general in the five seasons it has been in place and the events of last weekend brought nothing positive to the race either.
The fact is, giving a bonus point for the fastest lap in a grand prix has never made sense. It only ever makes sense in series where the races are sprints, where competitors are, in theory, pushing as hard as possible from the moment the lights go out to the moment their reach the chequered flag.
If it’s F1 Academy, Formula 3 or even Formula 2’s sprint races, absolutely reward whoever sets the quickest lap. After all, going as fast as possible is the point. Whoever does the best lap with the same conditions, tyres and cars as the rest of the field deserves credit for it – and a point too.
But this rule feels like it’s been set by people who have never watched a grand prix before. It fails to take into account the various strategies in play in a race and the amount of management a driver must do to keep their tyres happy as they aim to reach the chequered flag in the shortest amount of time possible. Hardly any drivers in a grand prix – if any at all – are going flat out during a race, otherwise they’ll likely be forced to make an extra pit stop and finish several positions lower than they would have done.
And that’s not to mention the fact that cars are not equal in Formula 1. Most of the time, the drivers with the best chance of scoring the fastest lap are, astonishingly enough, those who have the quickest cars on the grid. In most typical circumstances, the only chance a team down the field has of taking the fastest lap is by making a late switch for soft tyres.
Is it satisfying to watch drivers put racing to one side just to pursue the fastest lap like they’re trying to unlock a trophy in a PlayStation game? Is it really that thrilling to watch Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton pit with two laps remaining with a 30 second lead for a last lap glory run? Is the fastest lap bonus point something that makes the sport better?
The answer to all these questions is no.
You say
What do you think Formula 1 should do about the fastest lap bonus point? Should it be kept the same, be modified or be gotten rid of all together? Have you say in this weekend’s poll.
Which would you prefer for F1’s fastest lap bonus point in the future?
- No opinion (1%)
- Remove the fastest lap point entirely (68%)
- Amend the rule so only the fastest driver in the top 10 scores the point (7%)
- Amend the rule to make all finishing positions eligible to score the point (13%)
- Keep the fastest lap bonus point rule as it is (11%)
Total Voters: 76
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