The FIA confirms that the driver and the team will be awarded a point for setting the fastest lap in the race from 2019 F1 season onward.
Heading into the 2019 F1 season, reports circulated of a new addition to the points system where the driver setting the fastest lap in a grand prix race would be awarded an additional point as a reward for doing so.
The idea gained momentum with an e-vote set to be take ahead of the Australian GP, which has now been confirmed that both the driver and the team will be awarded an extra point from F1 2019 onward for setting the fastest lap in the race.
However, the point will be awarded to the driver and the team only if he finishes inside the Top 10, which means any driver setting the fastest lap finishing outside the Top 10, no point will be given for that race.
The decision was received with an unanimous e-vote where the F1 Strategy Group and the F1 Commission voted to get it in place from start of the new season later this weekend, while the FIA also gave green light to the rule change.
A point for the fastest lap is not new in F1 as drivers were rewarded with it between 1950 and 1959 previously. In recent times, DHL gave away a ‘DHL Fastest Lap Award’ to the driver who has set the most number of quickest lap in the course of the season.
Ross Brawn, Managing Director, Motorsports, F1 said: “Together with the FIA we have been committed to evaluating ideas and solutions that can improve the show whilst maintaining the integrity of our sport.
“We felt that the reintroduction, after sixty years, of a point for the driver of the fastest lap in the race goes in this direction. We have been considering this solution – which represents a response to detailed research carried out with thousands of our fans around the world – for a number of months.
“How many times have we heard the drivers on the radio ask the team about who holds the fastest lap? Now it will no longer be only a matter of record and prestige, but there will be a concrete motivation that will make the final part of the race even more interesting. Sometimes it is useful to remind ourselves of the heritage of our sport to move forward.”