The bonus point for fastest lap is no more. Six seasons after reviving the decade-old rule, Formula 1 will no longer reward whoever sets the quickest time over a single lap in a race.
F1 claimed the rule would add new intrigue to grands prix. Did it significantly enhance the action or was it an over-complicated distraction? And was F1’s unexplained decision to drop it correct?
Out of the 128 grands prix which have been held since the rule was introduced, here are 10 times it proved a noteworthy discussion point – including the strange case which appeared to prompt F1’s decision to scrap it.
2019 Australian Grand Prix
Fastest lap bonus: Valtteri Bottas
The introduction of the bonus point for fastest lap in 2019 meant teams could now take a maximum score of 44 points from races. Mercedes did it the first time of asking, Valtteri Bottas collecting the bonus as he romped to victory 20 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
This was in spite of team principal Toto Wolff telling both drivers before the race they were forbidden to push for the point. “They ignored me,” he admitted afterwards.
Before the weekend began there was considerable speculation over whether teams would pit their drivers to fit fresh tyres at the end of the race in pursuit of the bonus. Charles Leclerc said he expected his team to do just that, but when the chance came they chose not to.
“We had the window to pit Charles for new tyres [and] try to go for the fast lap,” said team principal Mattia Binotto after the race. “But I think at that stage whenever you pit it may be a risk and I think for us it was more important for us to bring the car home, score the points.”
2019 Spanish Grand Prix
Fastest lap bonus: Lewis Hamilton
By the fifth round of the season, Mercedes had come around to the idea of letting their drivers fight for the fastest lap bonus point. However they were still prepared to order them not to depending on the circumstances.
In Spain, leader Hamilton took the bonus point for fastest lap following a late restart. Bottas behind was always going to have a hard time beating it, so Mercedes told both to manage their pace until the end.
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2021 Monaco Grand Prix
Fastest lap bonus: Lewis Hamilton
Two years later, Hamilton and Max Verstappen were locked in a fight for the championship in which every point counted. In Monaco, Hamilton circulated a lowly seventh while Verstappen cruised to victory.
“Don’t miss the opportunity to get fastest lap because I need that point,” Hamilton urged his team with 10 laps to go. “We’ve already lost a ton today.” Mercedes were hesitant to pit him a second time as Bottas had retired when they had been unable to remove a wheel from his car in the pits.
However they took the risk and Hamilton salvaged one more vital point on a poor day.
2021 Dutch Grand Prix
Fastest lap bonus: Lewis Hamilton
At the Dutch Grand Prix, Hamilton took the fastest lap point early on and Mercedes urged Bottas not to take it from him. But after his pit stop, Bottas lit up the first two sectors and despite backing off at the end of the lap still took the bonus point off Hamilton.
However Hamilton’s stop was still to come and he duly claimed it back. “If Valtteri had got it, that would have been fine,” said Hamilton afterwards, somewhat unconvincingly given his comment in Monaco.
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2021 Mexican Grand Prix
Fastest lap bonus: Valtteri Bottas
Verstappen played the fastest lap tactics perfectly as the 2021 championship neared its gripping conclusion, though he wasn’t able to prevent Bottas costing him a point in Mexico. The Red Bull driver held the bonus point so Mercedes chose to use Bottas, who was running out of the points in 13th, to take it from him.
Mercedes pitted Bottas for fresh tyres but he emerged behind Verstappen. The Red Bull driver therefore backed off to spoil Bottas’s lap. Bottas retaliated by overtaking the Red Bull, but Verstappen kept within range and the Mercedes driver was shown blue flags to let him past.
Finally, Mercedes pulled Bottas into the pits for another fresh set of tyres and a successful tilt at the fastest time. But Verstappen’s exceptional awareness had nearly saved him a precious point.
2022 Belgian Grand Prix
Fastest lap bonus: Max Verstappen
Ferrari’s attempt to get the bonus point for fastest lap for Charles Leclerc at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2022 was a case study in how not to do it. They brought him in for an extra pit stop late in the race, but a damaged speed sensor meant he exceeded the pit lane speeding limit.
That earned Leclerc a five-second time penalty which dropped him behind Fernando Alonso. Nor did he manage to beat Verstappen’s time, making this an entirely unsuccessful venture.
2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
Fastest lap bonus: Max Verstappen
At Jeddah in 2023 the Red Bull drivers were running first and second, Sergio Perez unusually ahead of Verstappen. But while Perez believed the team had told them not to attempt to take the fastest lap, Verstappen persistently asked the team what the target time was.
“We are not concerned about that at the moment, Max,” race engineer Gianpiere Lambiase told him. “Yeah, but I am,” Verstappen answered, and duly claimed the point.
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2023 Spanish Grand Prix
Fastest lap bonus: Max Verstappen
A similar situation occured in Catalunya. Lambiase tried to dissuade Verstappen from making an attempt on the fastest lap: “It’s a 16.6, it was the first lap on a new soft for Checo with DRS so I wouldn’t worry about it, Max,” he said. Verstappen, again, set the fastest lap.
2023 Austria Grand Prix
Fastest lap bonus: Max Verstappen
Austria saw another similar scenario, Verstappen persuading Red Bull to let him go for the fastest lap. “Obviously it’s a team sport, but you have effectively a chain of commands to sign off on key strategic decisions,” team principal Christian Horner explained afterwards. “So you’ve just got to weigh up that risk versus reward. GP was up for it, Jonathan Wheatley was up for it, so it was like ‘okay, don’t fuck it up’.”
2024 Singapore Grand Prix
Fastest lap: Daniel Ricciardo (did not score bonus point)
Was this the race that killed the bonus point for fastest lap? Formula One Management introduced the rule to great fanfare in 2019 and never gave any indication they were considering whether to get rid of it. Then, suddenly, 25 days after this race, it was struck from the 2025 regulations.
Lando Norris had been on course to score the bonus point in Singapore, which would help him in pursuit of points leader Max Verstappen. With neither Red Bull driver in position to deny Norris the point, he was on course to claim a maximum score.
Then Red Bull’s second team RB pulled Daniel Ricciardo in for a fresh set of tyres, which allowed him to take the fastest lap off Norris. This earned Ricciardo nothing, as he finished outside the top 10.
A hue and cry went up that this was a case of collusion between two supposedly independent teams. Ricciardo admitted as much, saying it was done “obviously with Red Bull in mind.” Whatever was going on, the rule change for 2025 will put a stop to that this year.
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