The Abolishment Of The Fastest Lap Point In F1 For 2025

Formula 1 will discard the bonus point for the fastest lap of the race from the 2025 season. The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council made such a decision—a move that would end the practice that had been reinstated in the sport in 2019 after 60 years. This has brought several discussions among teams, drivers, and fans on the potential implications regarding race strategies and championship dynamics.

Background and Implementation

The fastest lap point was initially part of Formula 1 from 1950 to 1959. It then returned in 2019, with the intention of adding excitement to the closing stages of races—particularly when gaps between points-scoring positions had stabilized. In its current form, an additional championship point is handed to the driver who sets the fastest lap of the race, on condition that they finish within the top ten positions.

The reimplementation of this rule in 2019 was received in very different ways. Some heralded it as a means of keeping drivers gunning until the checkered flag waves, while others believed it could lead to undue risks being taken or would certainly favor those teams that enjoyed a large performance advantage.

Reasons for Abolishment

Although the FIA has not come up with an official explanation regarding the change, several factors are presumed to have helped make up this rule:

Low Impact on Excitement of the Race: This often went to the driver from a top team who could afford a late pit stop without any risk to their position, rather than creating last-minute drama. It is clear that this rule rarely achieved its main goal of spicing up the final laps of a race.

This rule has been quite controversial so far. During the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, Daniel Ricciardo, running for Red Bull’s sister team RB, came into the pits on his penultimate lap to set the fastest lap of the race despite finishing 17th and denied McLaren’s Lando Norris an extra point in his championship battle with Max Verstappen. The incident called the fairness and sporting integrity of the rule into question.

Conflicts of Interest Concerns: “The Singapore case has brought a possible conflict of interest in those teams who have sister or sibling outfits and teams involved within the sport into question; thus, now opening a can of worms regarding teams perhaps attempting to try influencing a result that might have assisted their sister partner or parent teams.

Strategic Complexity: This added a layer of complexity with race strategies, as decisions were sometimes taken that favored the bonus point over the best possible race performance. This could be very detrimental to the core of racing.

Inconsistency with historical practices: Some purists felt that the bonus point system moved away from F1’s traditional scoring methods and overcomplicated the championship standings.

Driver Reactions

Drivers, though, were generally in approval when F1 elected to get rid of the bonus point for fastest lap. That feeling was captured succinctly by Carlos Sainz: “This point was not necessary because it’s usually given to the first one that does a free pit stop on the second [to last] lap of the race, which doesn’t reward the fastest driver of the race but mostly luck or any racing incidents.

Other drivers have also echoed similar sentiments:

Lewis Hamilton: “I think this is a good move; we should be focusing on performing well throughout the race and not on doing one fast lap at the end.”

Max Verstappen: “It does not really change anything for me. We race to win, not for one point.”

Fernando Alonso: “It is a return to tradition. It has always been that F1 was about who crossed the line first, not about who did a single fast lap.

Yet, not every driver was of the same mindset. Younger drivers, obviously those who received benefit from such a rule at some point in the past, didn’t seem so happy about it:

Lando Norris: “It was an extra element of excitement. Sometimes that one point can make a big difference in the championship.”

Impact on Championship Dynamics

Taking away this one point for the fastest lap will change the dynamics of the championship on many levels:

Reduced Maximum Points: Full-length races will revert to the maximum of 25 points as it was from 2010 to 2018. It simplifies the scoring system and makes it easier for fans to follow the championship standings.

Closer Championship Battles: Without this bonus point, close championship fights could get even closer, with different outcomes probably. As a matter of fact, in some seasons, the points related to the fastest lap have made all the difference in the final positions of the championship.

Strategy Simplification: Teams will no longer have to consider the possibility of a late pit stop for fresh tires to get the fastest lap point, potentially simplifying race strategies. This could lead to more straightforward and perhaps more exciting racing, as teams focus solely on finishing position.

Reduced Risk-Taking: Drivers in a race have reduced risks since there is no extra point in store for them during the closing stages of a race. This may reduce incidents or accidents.

Focus on Consistency: Removing the fastest lap point puts greater onus on consistency throughout the race and season rather than single-lap speed.

Alternative Proposals

While abolishing the fastest lap point, some drivers and team principals have suggested alternatives as to how performance could be rewarded:

Pole Position Points: There is some interest in the awarding of points for pole position, considered to be a moment of ‘absolute limit’ where drivers push the cars to their full potential. In this case, this would give an added zing to the qualifying sessions, rewarding Saturday performances.

Qualifying Performance: With the competitiveness factor, some feel that there is a need for some recognition of good or strong qualifying performances, certainly in a very competitive field of cars. Points could be extended to the best three qualifiers, or else rewards may come from some type of sliding scale connected with qualifying positions.

Overtaking Bonus: Another more radical idea is to give points for the number of overtakes during the race as an incentive to get more action on the track.

Sprint Race Points: Continuing with sprint races in the F1 calendar, some have suggested increasing the points for those shorter events to compensate for the loss brought about by the fastest lap point.

Historical Context and Impact

To understand the impact of this change, it’s worth looking at how the fastest lap point has affected recent championships:

At the time of the announcement, this would have meant Max Verstappen pocketing eight points from fastest laps in the 2024 season and Lando Norris gaining five.

Ten different drivers scored the fastest lap point throughout the season, Norris scoring four and Verstappen two.

The point for the fastest lap played a great role in the tight championship fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen during the 2021 season and could thus play a pivotal role in how a title battle between these two eventual top contenders works out.

Looking Ahead to 2025

The abolition of the fastest lap point is not the only change coming to F1 in 2025, with other changes being:

The minimum driver weight allowance increased from 80 kg to 82 kg to take better care of the health concern and be more considerate to drivers in terms of body shape and size.

Changes to young driver free practice requirements, aimed at providing up-and-coming talent with more of an opportunity to sample machinery currently used in Formula 1.

New limitations on testing for older cars to help even up the playing field and reduce the advantage of large teams that enjoy great testing resources.

Put together, these changes mark the continuation of Formula 1’s ceaseless refinement of its rules, balancing of competition, and preparing for the major technical shake-up on tap for 2026.

Conclusion

With the removal of the fastest lap point in Formula 1 for the 2025 season, the scoring format is going back to something simpler. If anything, this reduces one element of strategic play in the closing laps of races, but it will help alleviate any perceived unfairness and conflict of interest. This rule change reflects how F1, as a sport, keeps moving forward with changes that take into consideration the input of teams, drivers, and fans regarding what it perceives as sporting integrity.

Without the added drama of the fastest lap point, no doubt, the 2025 season will bring new challenges and excitement. The focus, though, stays on delivering high-quality, competitive racing that has kept the audiences worldwide captivated while teams and drivers make necessary adaptations with this and other regulatory changes.

Going forward, it will be fascinating to see how this change actually impacts Formula 1 with regards to race strategies, driver behavior, and general championship dynamics. While some people may miss that extra little bit of excitement that the fastest lap point would provide, most feel that this simplification is a boon for the sport and will allow it to get back to what makes it so beloved: speed, skill, and competition.