Why F1 Bosses Chose to Scrap Fastest Lap Point

The Formula 1 season continues this weekend after returning from a mid-season break with the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. In addition to the action on the track, fans can expect to see plenty of celebrity involvement in what is usually one of the flashiest and most exciting races on the F1 calendar.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris continue to battle it out at the top of the Drivers’ Championship leaderboard, with their respective teams even closer in the constructors’ standings. With things getting tighter between these teams, every point really does matter. However, from next season, there will be one less point available in every race.

Introduced back in 2019, the extra point given to the driver who produces the fastest lap of the race is set to be scrapped at the start of the 2025 F1 season, as decided during a FIA meeting during the recent break.

The fastest lap point wasn’t hugely popular when it first came into existence, with many branding it as pointless and not expecting it to have too much of an effect on the overall standings. As the years have gone by, though, it has added an extra layer of complexity and drama to several races and championship battles.

Cast your minds back to the iconic 2021 season where Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were neck-and- neck all season, the extra point for the fastest lap became massively important for the battle for the title. Both teams would regularly tweak their tactics late on in races in order to go for the fastest lap and gain any advantage they possibly could in pursuit of glory.

Controversy at the Singapore Grand Prix Put the Fastest Lap Point Under the Spotlight

Rival teams were accused of getting together to exploit the rule

Daniel Ricciardo won the fastest lap point at the Singapore Grand Prix back in September – and raised some questions in the process.

Ricciardo’s team, RB, are owned by Red Bull, and him winning that point meant a point was taken away from Lando Norris and McLaren, who are directly competing with Red Bull. It underlined how this system could be abused in order to help other teams, with McLaren, unsurprisingly, not pleased with the outcome.

The FIA released a lengthy statement outlining what was discussed during the meeting, with them saying ; “Minor changes for 2024 and 2025 Sporting and Technical regulations were approved by the World Council, including the removal of the point awarded for setting the fastest lap.”

While the governing body didn’t go into detail on the reasoning behind their decision, it is likely that the above example with Ricciardo played into the call to scrap the fastest lap point. It is something that noted F1 content creator Edd Straw has wanted to see for some time.

Per research shared by Straw in September, the fastest lap point was only taken by the race winner 36 times in the 122 races since it was reintroduced. Across the analysis period, it was also taken by a driver finishing in every position all the way down to 18th. There were 13 occasions on which a driver from outside the top 10 blocked a top 10 finisher from winning the point.

Ultimately, the fastest lap could easily be taken by a driver – who otherwise had little to play for in the race itself – making a late pitstop in a bid to enhance their chances of the fastest lap point.

Whether they are willing to make it public or not, by removing the fastest lap point, the FIA has closed what had become a bizarre loophole based more on inter-team tactics than genuine sporting achievement.