The majority of the Formula 1 driving fraternity has backed the FIA’s move to scrap the point for the fastest lap from the 2025 season.
On Thursday, the FIA published several changes to sporting, technical and financial regulations that the World Motor Sport Council had approved.
Changes across multiple series were made, including scrapping the point awarded to the driver with the fastest lap in a Grand Prix, should they finish inside the top-10.
The change will come into effect in 2025 and the announcement comes shortly after the Red Bull-owned RB outfit successfully completed a fastest lap attempt with Daniel Ricciardo at the Singapore GP, stealing a point from Max Verstappen’s title rival Lando Norris.
Mercedes’ George Russell welcomed the change, telling select media including Motorsport Week, with no pun intended, “I always thought the point for fastest lap was a bit pointless. It would always be the driver who was having a tough race in the top-10 who would put new tyres on and gain the extra point. I never really saw the benefit of that. I’m glad to see that’s gone.”
Fastest lap point doesn’t reward F1 driver skill
Russell’s verdict was the overwhelming one, with his F1 peers agreeing that the fastest lap point wasn’t there to award driver skill, but merely a product of strategy, racing in free air or having nothing to lose after a less-than-ideal outing.
“It’s always depending on strategy, who stops the last basically, we’ll get it, so it doesn’t tell much,” said Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas ahead of the United States Grand Prix.
“I think even with our car, we could sometimes get it if we stop just before the last lap, and go all out. So, it doesn’t tell about performance much.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were unanimous in their approval of scrapping the fastest lap point.
“Honestly, I’ve always felt like this point was very superficial because it always depends on your race situation, and it wasn’t really awarding a particular skill, in a way, because it was more about finding yourself in a lucky position where you could pit and do that fastest lap, so I think it’s good that it’s been taken off,” Leclerc explained.
Sainz added, “I always was of the opinion that it was a not-needed point in the points system of Formula 1, mainly because of how it is achieved.
“Right now, that point goes to the one that has a free pit stop one lap to the end of the race.
“So it’s not showing who is the fastest guy in the race, and he deserves one point for being the fastest guy.
“It’s a point that goes to the guy that by chance or by luck or by race situation has a free pit stop at some point of the race.
“It’s not always the case. Not always, but most of the time.”
Lando Norris in favour of the fastest lap point
Surprisingly, despite being caught out by Ricciardo’s last-ditch fastest lap attempt in Singapore, Norris was in the minority camp of favouring the point for the fastest lap.
“I kind of liked how it is now,” he said.
“There’s an opportunity to go for something else.
“Sometimes you pay the price for risking such a thing, and it’s always been a risk in certain scenarios. If your pit stop goes wrong, you know, different reasons.”
The McLaren driver took no issues with RB’s fastest lap ploy at Marina Bay, as long as it isn’t a repetitive tactic used by the Red Bull-owned F1 outfit.
“If it’s such a case like we had in Singapore that’s repetitive, then I think [scrapping the fastest lap point] is the correct thing to do.
“But I don’t feel like they should change it just because of people questioning it after Singapore.”
