Formula 1 Racing

Who has benefitted most from F1’s fastest lap point offering?

Verstappen has scored one more point from fastest laps than Hamilton over the period

Maurice Trintignant is unlikely to be the name that rolls off the tongue if you were to ask anyone for their favourite Formula 1 driver of all time.

The Frenchman competed in F1 for 14 years, winning twice in Monte Carlo, and taking 10 podiums across a varied career that included two separate spells driving for Ferrari.

But for 60 years Trintignant could claim to be the last man to score a point for the fastest lap in an F1 race after he achieved the accolade at the season-ending United States Grand Prix in 1959.

After the decision was taken to stop awarding a point for the quickest effort of a race, the rule was not reintroduced until 2019, when Valtteri Bottas stole Trintignant’s thunder by setting the fastest lap at the Australian GP on his way to victory for Mercedes.

There will be just six more grands prix until the fastest lap point is once again consigned to the history books as the FIA announced on Thursday that the rule will be scrapped from 2025 onwards.

The rule’s demise was met with a largely apathetic response from drivers, with Carlos Sainz insistent that it mostly rewarded drivers who were able to take a free pitstop towards the end of the race rather than the actual fastest driver. George Russell labelled it “pointless”.

Crunch the numbers and it is a thrilling battle as to who has taken the most points for fastest laps since 2019. But the two drivers streets ahead of anyone else will come as little surprise.

Verstappen has scored one more point from fastest laps than Hamilton over the period

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen has 27 points with Lewis Hamilton on 26, as the two dominant drivers during the fastest lap point era are once again separated by the narrowest of margins.

Drivers who scored points for fastest lap in modern-era F1

Driver Fastest Lap Points First Fastest Lap Point Last Fastest Lap Point
Max Verstappen 27 Austrian GP, 2019 Japanese GP, 2024
Lewis Hamilton 26 Spanish GP, 2019 Canadian GP, 2024
Lando Norris 10 Austrian GP, 2020 Azerbaijan GP, 2024
Charles Leclerc 9 Bahrain GP, 2019 Australian GP, 2024
Valtteri Bottas 7 Australian GP, 2019 Turkish GP, 2021
George Russell 7 Sakhir GP, 2020 Hungarian GP, 2024
Sergio Perez 7 Brazilian GP, 2021 Belgian GP, 2024
Carlos Sainz 4 Styrian GP, 2020 British GP, 2024
Pierre Gasly 3 Chinese GP, 2019 Hungarian GP, 2021
Daniel Ricciardo 3 Belgian GP, 2020 Italian GP, 2021
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