Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Circuit de Catalunya, 2019

F1 bosses plan to award a point for fastest lap in 2019

2019 F1 season

Posted on

| Written by and

An 11th-hour change to the sporting regulations for the 2019 F1 season could see drivers score a point for setting the fastest lap during a race.

RaceFans understands that due to the limited time available before the opening round, a proposal outlining the rationale for the change will be presented during tomorrow’s FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in Geneva, with approval in principal for the change being sought.

Should the WMSC be in favour, then a majority vote from F1’s Strategy Group and unanimous F1 Commission approval will be sought via e-votes before the WMSC is requested to rubber-stamp the regulation change.

According to sources, research undertaken by F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media shows that fans favour such a change as it could potentially ‘spice up’ a race towards the end, particularly where front-runners have dropped out of contention.

Awarding a point for pole position was also considered by Liberty, but the concept was dropped due to concerns that a driver who needs a single point to clinch a world championship could do so on Saturday, which would in turn detract from the race.

Such an arrangement could have seen the 2003 world championship being decided during a qualifying session, as Michael Schumacher needed only a single point from the final weekend to beat Kimi Raikkonen to the title.

[smr0901]Liberty is anxious to prevent such a scenario. “What happens in the race on Sunday is paramount,” our source said. “Nothing should detract from that.”

If the necessary approvals are not agreed for a point for fastest lap to be made this year, it is thought that the change will be tabled as part of a raft of sporting regulation changes for the 2020 F1 season. New rules for next year require only a 70 per cent ‘for’ vote from the F1 Commission, rather than unanimity, if tabled before April 30th.

The next opportunity to do that would be at the meeting of the Strategy Group and F1 Commission on March 26th in London.

Formula 1 awarded points for fastest laps from 1950 to 1959. F1 freight company DHL sponsors F1’s Fastest Lap Trophy which is awarded to the driver who set the most fastest laps during the course of a full season. Last year’s winner Valtteri Bottas set the fastest lap in seven of the 21 races.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2019 F1 season

Browse all 2019 F1 season articles

104 comments on “F1 bosses plan to award a point for fastest lap in 2019”

  1. No. Please, no!

    1. It’s not a bad idea, one which was previously used, so it’s reviving an F1 tradition.
      a) It’s not artificial and rewards real performance. Many drivers, not just the top 6, have an opportunity to go for it on low fuel and fresher tires.
      b) It creates a race within a race for the single point, even in the closing laps when many have usually “settled” for their places.
      c) It will create additional interest/excitement for viewers, with no downside or cost.
      So, yes, let’s try it for the year. If it works well, keep it.

      1. Simon le Bon
        7th March 2019, 1:37

        So, Valtteri should be rewarded when he chickened out to the pits when Verstappen was lapping him in the Mexican Grand Prix? IMO a bad idea.
        I’d rather see some other improvements:

        Just give one additional point for finishing the race.
        After a DNF, no grid penalty for changing parts next race.
        Higher points for finishing positions after P6, so i.e. P6=8 pts, P7=7pts, P8=6pts etc.
        #13 would be a lucky number ;)

  2. I know right, that is just silly. The slowest car in the race will pit on the last lap, put on the quickest tire and get fastest lap. Those guys need to spend more time with their families.

    1. This! It’s obvious and happens all the time. The person who pits the closest to the end of the race for whatever reason often gets a fastest lap.

  3. Hell no. Let’s stop F1 from losing it’s integrity right now by throwing that stupid idea out the window.

  4. Wait, I thought we just heard y’day that there wasn’t to be gimmickry?!

    In this era of tyre saving and fuel saving, fastest lap does not go to the fastest car and driver, it goes to the one who pitted last (often unplanned) and is able to punch out a bunch of quick/glory laps.

    And somehow this is an achievement equal to beating half the field? C’mon Liberty. Use your head.

    1. @phylyp I came here to say exactly that. They said the other day that they’d dumb down, now they have research that shows a “cheap and cheerful” way to spice f1 up.

      I can’t believe it. Of all the eras, this one with the way the tyres work is the worst to include such a rule. I hope it doesn’t go forward but if it does it’s just another thing on my “why to stop watching F1” pile.

      1. Have to agree @phylyp, @fer-no65, this certainly is not something I asked for.

        1. Me too, how long before it’s “Fanboost” or maybe Bernie’s idea of sprinklers (assuming he hasn’t patented it) ?

    2. Funny isn’t it. I guess then that data from testing so far shows that overtaking is unlikely to get much better so we get the traditional last minute knee jerk that will (hopefully) be dropped after a couple of races or at least after the end of the season @phylyp.

      I just have to think back to that stupid season finale in FE where both Buemi and DiGrassi were out of the race but went out with the second chassis to get that point for fastest lap to see who would win the championship. No please!

    3. This is such a stupid idea. Really, really stupid. God knows which fans they spoke to – I’d like to see the stats because I simply don’t believe it. I guess it also depends what constitutes being a “fan” of the sport. Maybe us RaceFans types are going to be superceded by newer fans that want to see stuff like Fan Boost in F1?

      1. Ideas put forwards such as these erode my confidence in those managing F1. If they are so far removed from what would be good for the sport from a fan point of view then what hope is there.

  5. Lenny (@leonardodicappucino)
    6th March 2019, 16:46

    In the same news, 6th place is now worth 9 points if the driver is from Mercedes, Ferrari, or Red Bull. Great. I am thrilled. /s

    1. Exactly.

  6. F1 bosses:

    “We won’t resort to gimmicks”

    F1 bosses:

    “Quick, ALL THE GIMMICKS!”

    /facepalm

    1. F1 bosses: preach that Sunday is the only holy day, no other day result shall allowed to spoil the purity of ‘the’ day. Also F1 bosses: let’s add some new ritual on Sunday.

  7. Oh, come tf on! Nobody asked for this, nobody needs this. Why can’t we just go 2 seasons without someone influential having a brainfade that somehow makes it into the rules?

  8. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    6th March 2019, 16:54

    Initially I thought that it’d be an interesting idea as it could give smaller teams the chance to go for a point if they’re out of the top 10.

    But I looked up the fastest laps from last year – they’re all Mercedes/Ferrari/Red Bull except for 1 race where Magnussen got it for Haas. So while I was initially interested in seeing how this one plays out as it could be an interesting idea, I’m now more of the opinion it’s a poor idea that serves only to reinforce the ‘big 3’ advantage.

    That said, changing up some of the rules regarding points could be a good idea but I’m not sure this is ‘it’.

    1. Not an interesting idea when turning up the wick for one point could get you a 15-place grid penalty. That faster lap point is essentially on offer only to Mercedes and Ferrari, because the Honda reliability is not yet a sorted issue for Red Bull.

      Who comes up with this… schtick?

  9. So that will be for the 6th place running car of the 3 top teams if it is anything like last year.

    All them were 30 seconds or more ahead so an easy pitstop 3-4 laps before end without losing a place and gain an extra point.

    For me this is absolutely a stupid idea – it is no real reflection of car nor driver performance.

    If you want to do this right you should award 5, 3 and 1 points to the cars that set the most fast laps during the whole race. Every lap of the race somebody was fastest and at race finish you can simply count who had the most fast laps.

    That at least would encourage to push for multiple laps and not just 1.

  10. Bad idea, but maybe F1 could mimic FE and award a point for the fastest lap IF they finish in the top 10.

  11. Initially I thought it was a stupid idea as it would give smaller teams the chance to go for a point if they pit late for new soft tyres.

    But without looking up the fastest laps from last year – I read they are all Mercedes/Ferrari/Red Bull except for 1 race where Magnussen got it for Haas – I start warming to the idea. Because this is now something worth fighting for I can expect a large part of the filed to have a go for it. The top teams probably need to do it with the tyre they have, but smaller teams with a big gap behind or outside the top 10 with go for the late pit stop and have a go. It could even mean that when we have a clear driver at the front he will no longer simply settle for 1st, but might try to extend the lead to get an extra pit stop and maybe the coveted 26 pts Grand Slam.

    All in all I’ve warmed to this and cannot wait until next week.
    Off to NetFlix now.

    1. I was quite negative until I read your thoughts about it.

    2. @coldfly I thought I was a bad idea until I read your post…now I thinks it’s terrible.

    3. Duncan Snowden
      6th March 2019, 22:01

      I tend to agree. It’s certainly not something I would argue very hard for, but I’m willing to give it a chance. I can see some advantages. After all, it’s only one point per race. It could certainly decide a championship, but it would have to be pretty close anyway and this could actually make things more exciting. What remains to be seen is how “artificially” it will play out.

  12. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
    6th March 2019, 17:42

    No no no. Terrible idea.

    The second season of Formula E ended on a low note when the two championship protagonists ended up chasing each other round the course hunting for the bonus point. F1 shouldn’t open itself up to this kind of farce.

    Also, once the 6th place runner boxes for fresh rubber at the end of the race, this frees up the 5th place runner to also go for it, and if they have a gap and aren’t challenging 4th, they are strategically obliged to do so to cover off a safety car, with domino effect right up to the race leaders in the right conditions.

    As well as this, we can expect to see everyone who doesn’t have a realistic shot at a points finish coming in for fresh boots late in the race, and if a safety car were to come out, they would be unfairly rewarded with better rubber than opponents who had outraced them.

    1. Robert McKay
      6th March 2019, 18:38

      I’ve no real issue with the change but more concerned with why this has been decided/suggested so late in the day relative to the season start.

      “The second season of Formula E ended on a low note when the two championship protagonists ended up chasing each other round the course hunting for the bonus point. F1 shouldn’t open itself up to this kind of farce.”

      Yes, but if I remember didn’t they already take themselves out of contention by getting together in the race, and then the fact that there was a point for fastest lap actually meant the championship wasn’t done and dusted there and then but there was actually some point to still race?

      In that situation the point for fastest lap was actually really important in making the title battle more interesting, not less.

      1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
        6th March 2019, 19:26

        You remember correctly indeed, but I disagree that the title battle was improved by that turn of events.
        It may have extended the battle, but in descending into a farcical hunt for a gimmick point, completely removed from the race going on around them, the entire championship battle was devalued from a sporting perspective in my eyes, and I would hate to see an F1 title decided in a similar fashion.

        1. I just mentioned exactly that race as an example of how cringeworthy having points for fastest laps can be @fullcoursecaution, @Robert McKay!

  13. I see three major factors in getting fastest lap:
    1) fast car
    2) low enough position that it is worth 1 point to stop for soft tires at end of race
    3) gap to cars behind

    Last season you would expect the Red Bull and the slowest Ferrari/Merc to chase fastest laps. They had the gap, the car, and nothing to lose. Indeed, Bottas took fastest lap trophy.

    I wouldn’t expect this to change unless the gap between the top teams closes. Haas or Renault might be motivated for the point, but they’ll have to bring more speed to take it from big three. Cases of slower teams taking fastest laps for glory would disappear since the fastest teams would be motivated.

    Seems to me like the biggest impact on the WDC might be between teammates. Last season Bottas would have gained points on Hamilton. That could matter if the faster teammate fails to build a large gap.

    I’ll not get excited about this silliness until it passes the votes.

    1. Good analysis @slotopen

  14. Madness. The only way for this to work and stop drivers in position 11-20 pitting in the last laps would be to award points for all 20 drivers. Even then it has a loophole as the driver in last place would always go for the fastest lap. I would prefer if they rewarded points for all 20 drivers however that is argument for another day.

  15. Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
    6th March 2019, 17:49

    My God, what are those people smoking? Yesterday they said no gimmicks and now this. F1 would lose its integrity with something like this.

  16. Am I the only person who thinks this is a good idea? I’m usually a staunch traditionalist but I reckon this isn’t bad. It adds an extra dimension to the race, a subplot where people who are out of points contention can potentially pit late in the race and have a crack at going quickly. Worth a try anyway.

    1. @zazeems, as Keith notes, technically it was an old tradition of the sport to award points for the fastest lap in the race in the 1950s, so you could sort of count it as resurrecting a traditional aspect of the sport.

      As an aside, I think that it did actually make a difference for the 1958 World Drivers Championship. With bonus points awarded for the fastest lap, Hawthorn edged out Moss by 42 points to 41 that season – that was due to the fact that Hawthorn was allowed to count four bonus points towards his total, whereas Moss could only count three towards his total (under the system they had of dropping a certain number of results).

      However, if there had been no fastest lap bonus points, the two drivers would have been tied on 38 points each – but, because Moss won more races than Hawthorn that season (four for Moss to one for Hawthorn), Moss would have won the title on countback.

    2. petebaldwin (@)
      6th March 2019, 21:26

      @zazeems I’m 50/50 on it to be honest. I don’t like gimmicks but as we’ve got DRS, “wasp-in-a-jar” engines, carpark tracks, 20+ races and halos (plus more), I don’t really feel like like the “this isn’t F1” arguments really work. F1 has already sold it’s soul so why not try something new?

      I think it could potentially add an extra bit of interest to some of the more boring races. Can Lewis pull a big enough gap on the field to pit and go for fastest lap? Can the cars at the back get a point for fastest lap? It might be interesting too see everyone from 14th backwards pull into the pits and battle it out at the end of a race rather than cruising around for no reason.

  17. I don’t have any problem with this at all, and fail to see how this is a gimmick. Championships had been won and lost by a point, so all those in contention will need to go for it. Teammates of those in contention will need to go for it to take it away from the rival. And if a Sauber driver cruising in 13th position decides to pit for quick tyre three laps before the finish and go for it…there is nothing wrong with that either.

    1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
      6th March 2019, 18:04

      The issue is that if a late safety car comes out, that Alfa is sitting in 13th on fresh softs, whereas the drivers immediately ahead are on worn hards and mediums, and are sitting ducks to a driver who has been rewarded for conceding.

    2. It will work like a gimmick because of the tire saving during the race. The cars are lapping today a couple of seconds less of what they would be capable if they didn’t have to save tires. Therefore any car on the track that doesn’t care about tires can do one fastest lap easily after pitting for fresh tires.

    3. @gpfacts – It is a gimmick because it is awarding championship points to something that has nothing to do with finishing the race, which is how races are decided, and then those points are tallied to decide the championship.

      Gimmick (noun): “a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or business.” Granted this is just one definition, but a point for fastest lap is just a way to attract attention away from finishing position.

      My cynical side would say that they are doing this to distract from the lack of broad competition. Merc and Ferrari will fight for the bulk of the wins, podiums and the two titles; RBR occasionally in the mix. Every other team is just making up the numbers in that respect. So let’s introduce this gimmick to attract attention elsewhere. Except, uh oh, even that won’t work because the fastest cars (Merc, Ferr) set the bulk of the fastest laps.

      Besides, qualifying high up, getting pole position, setting quick laps, those are already a reward in and of themselves. Why give points for anything that is already a net positive for you and your team? What if they gave a point for most fuel saved or longest tire stint to reward cars that were efficiently designed? That would seem antithetical because that isn’t the point of F1. In my mind the same goes here, F1 is not about driving flat out every lap, it is about beating your rivals more over the course of a season than they beat you. It shouldn’t matter if you beat them by .001sec or 90sec. But now something aside from beating your opponent is accruing points,which makes it gimmicky to me.

      1. @hobo OK, let’s agree to disagree. I don’s see an issue with a point for fastest lap precisely because one needs to beat the opposition over the course of a season…which is all about accruing points, by the way. Fastest lap of the race is an afterthought for the drivers today. Now it would become a priority, but it will not be a matter of driving flat-out every lap…just when it counts and is worth the risk. I kind of doubt this will happen in 2019 anyway, but if it does, let’s see how it goes.

        1. @gpfacts – Absolutely, agree to disagree. But by the definition of gimmick, that is what this is.

          I think you may be confusing beating opponents with accruing points. The former is what is generally agreed upon as the goal within F1 in order to win the WDC and/or WCC title(s). The latter is not the goal, the latter is how you tally up the results of the former over a season. More briefly, the goal is to win or finish well not to collect points.

          If all one cared about is points, then you can award points for anything, add them up and declare a winner. But that is a different than beating your opponents to the checkered flag throughout the season.

          And I would agree that it would be a risk/reward calculation that teams and drivers would have to make, rather than flat out all the time. But I personally don’t want titles potentially decided by fastest laps. Further, if you really want to play out extreme possibilities, all a team needs to do is severely underfuel the car, put on the softest tires, and turn the engine up to dangerous for 6 or 7 races to collect points. Instead of being last in the championship, you can be 9th. More prize money. Crazy, yes. But for millions of dollars/pounds/euros, why not?

          My basic argument is that it splits the the sport into different pursuits and muddies the point system further. If you want lower teams to have chances of accruing points, give points for every position. Or find ways to increase competition throughout the field. If you want teams/drivers to push more, then allow more fuel/refuelling, have better tires, and reduce restrictions on fuel flow rates and extreme reliability of parts. I don’t know what issues this is supposed to be addressing, but it seems like it will cause more trouble than whatever it is supposed to add.

          1. @hobo In recent years, finishing 2nd in every race would basically not be enough to win the title, so the drivers still need to go for the wins. Therefore, collecting points and winning races is not mutually exclusive. The mid-field teams need to collect points, but the same rule applies…better results bring more points. And if you can get few more for fastest race lap…why not.

  18. So everyone that is hopelessly out of the points will pit with low fuel for fresh/fastest tyres and do qualify runs for the point…

    Or at least i would…

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      6th March 2019, 21:29

      Sure but at the moment, they just pointlessly cruise around at the back diving out of the way of the cars lapping them. Is that better?

      1. I’m not sure to be honest.

        But i can foresee after three laps if i failed, i would pit again for mote fresh tyres to do another 3, then another 3…

        that’s just be odd coz a number of cars would be non-stop pitting…

        1. petebaldwin (@)
          6th March 2019, 23:45

          True. The fastest lap getting a point idea is probably the wrong way of trying to solve the problem. I’ve argued before that points should go down to last place as that would negate any need for this. It would give those towards the back of the grid an actual reason to race.

        2. Then now you have one track where the hopeful ones are racing while the hopeless ones are “qualifying”.

  19. FFS! Absolutely no!

    It’s putting the sport in disrepute. A rules violation in itself.

  20. Really not a fan of this as I cannot stand the idea of bonus points in F1 or any other series that uses them. Points should be awarded for finishing positions & the championship order decided by those points rather than poles, fast laps or anything else.

    Awarding a point for fastest lap & creating a scenario where a driver pit’s for fresh tyres later on & with those fresh tyres & low fuel can lap significantly faster than anybody else makes that point not mean anything.

  21. If we are going with gimmicks, let’s go all out.

    Fastest lap gets promoted one position in the finishing order!

    First, third and tenth on next to last lap would all have to pit to protect the win, podium and point respectively. It would be a farce but very entertaining!

  22. This is actually something that I’ve been wondering about before that F1 could do so, or at least try. Not the most necessary thing in the world, but maybe not too bad either if it gets approved. I’m 50-50 on this one.

    1. @jerejj – I was thinking it’s at least something “earned” , unlike DRS or Fanboost that are not.

  23. Extra large DRS. Snow plough front wing. Tobacco sponsorship and now this. All we need now is fanboost. Maybe I won’t miss this season too much after all.

  24. Nooooooo

    Races are about the place you finish

  25. really awful idea, am really not a fan of this at all.

    watching drivers pit with a handful of laps to go to put on fresh soft’s just to go for fastest lap is going to be a mockery of the sport and at this point the fastest lap and it’s point will be totally pointless because it will no longer be about who the fastest driver was & more who pitted for the soft’s last.

    what a complete and utter joke!

    1. I clearly heard the same thing … no gimmicks.
      It will make a mockery of the last 15 minutes of the race. Every team beyond 11th place will pit to find an opening on the track and a bolt on a set of Super-Mega-Ultra-Soft tyres. A set that they saved from qualifying. Then with fumes in the tank, try for the solitary point. After that, cruise around to complete the race.
      This should have come out March 32nd.
      Do the “Fastest Lap” contenders get to un-lap themselves when they overtake the leaders.? They will probably still be a lap down, but having 4, 5 or 6 cars trying for fastest lap and the leaders scrapping over the real prizes will be …. entertaining.

  26. I’d rather they awarded a point for the fastest lap in an affordable car.

    1. @velocityboy – interesting thought… maybe limit it to only those outside the points?

    2. No surprises there ….The Stig would take it every time.

  27. Hell no! I wonder how Liberty are guiding their decisions by research being undertaken with fans? Are these fans representative of all people that watch f1? This looks like Bernie era decision making.

    1. @mmertens Indeed. I bet the fans research claim is just a lie or they asked some random people at the pub.

  28. I don’t get all the negative comments about that fastest lap idea. First of all, it is just one point. But more importantly, how come people think qualifying is that great and rewarding the fastest lap is a gimmick ? It is basically the same thing, except that they will be racing at the same time. Who wouldn’t like cars to the limit and extra excitement at the end of the race, when everything has settled ? The one critic that seems really sound is that with the current two-tier championship, it is likely that the fastest lap will go to whoever is in sixth place and will have all the time in the world to pit for new tyres.

    What is not said is if there will be any restriction for the fastest lap to count. In some championships, you have to finish in the n first places in order for the fastest lap to count. I would prefer if the fastest lap was open to everybody, even to someone who is dead last, would have resigned, but stays in the race only for that tiny point. Other question : will it be allowed to suck fuel from the tank ?

    I must confess that I am fond of rewarding fastest laps and have dreamt of taking the concept much further. Scrap qualifying, have two races by week-end, and the grid order determined by the fastest laps in the previous race. I don’t see why we couldn’t have the excitement of the race and the excitement of qualifying both at the same time.

  29. I can forsee the scenario whereby the no. 2 in the team those main driver is currently leading the championship charge (in the WDC) doing this to prevent the other drivers from getting that point. For example; Bottas going for the Fastest Lap to prevent Vettel from getting it and therefore helping Hamilton indirectly.

  30. isaac (@invincibleisaac)
    6th March 2019, 20:18

    Not sure how I feel about getting a point for the Fastest Lap, but I found it interesting seeing if it would have effected any previous championships in the past had it been in place. Kimi still would have been Champion in 2007 but Massa would’ve been Champion in 2008. Although this was when points were worth less his 3 fastest laps over the season compared to Hamilton’s 1 would’ve turned his 1 point deficit into a 1 point advantage

  31. Everyone placed 11th and backwards pit 3-4 laps before finish to get new tyres, adjust the wings, take breath, drink some cool tea and then go for the fastest lap of the race…

  32. MaliceCooper
    6th March 2019, 20:34

    Also award points for Bodacious Burnout, Sickest Spin, Perfect Podium Pose, and Spirit of The Radio award for most hilarious comms. And fan vote. Fan vote must be worth at least as much as a victory.

  33. I worry about this setting a trend. First a point for fastest lap. Then for qualifying positions. Point for using the least fuel (because green hybrids and all). Fastest pit stop. Bonus points for most fastest laps in a season, most poles, most fastest pit stops, best livery, best overtake, most entertaining radio message, hottest wife and/or girlfriend, best tattoo, best dressed, best hair and makeup, best cinematographer, best team title, best live action short film….ahhhhhhh!!!!!

    Ok, maybe I got a little carried away.

  34. I was on board with this right until I noticed the date.

    This would be a good idea for 2020, and I hope it is approved for next year. However, trying to introduce it 9 days before the season starts stinks of an attempt to rig something. Even though Liberty probably had no such intention, and certainly couldn’t have known who this would help or hinder ahead of time. Which means this is likely to not go through, and simply increase cynicism against Liberty’s ideas.

    Cynicism is poison to reformers, which is why Jean Todt complained about negativity this week. However, it’s difficult to sympathise when his co-reformers invite such cynicism.

    1. Interesting thoughts as usual @alianora-la-canta

  35. Yeah and there could be sections of the track that enable a power boost as well, they could change position lap to lap. Maybe if the track was back lit and glowed to show the speed. or how about dropping banana skins and boulders so the drivers needs to swerve. Also the drivers could wear novelty suits like a gorilla or a chicken or a stereo type Italian with a big mustache dressed like a gondolier.

  36. They should give one point for pole position during quali, not fastest lap during the race!

    1. Did you even read the article?

  37. Imagine if two drivers are fighting for the championship going into the final few rounds. The permutations would be even more confusing than usual. Driver A is 15 points behind Driver B with 2 races to go, so if Driver A wins both races and Driver B comes second, then Driver B wins the championship, unless Driver A gets the fastest lap in one of the races (while Driver B doesn’t), however, if Driver A gets fastest laps both races and wins them both, then he wins the championship even if Driver B finishes second both times. *exhales*

    1. Sounds exciting to me!

  38. oh c’mon that’s sick idea.

  39. steve Farrall
    6th March 2019, 21:31

    No!!

  40. This seems like one of those rules that they have absolutely no idea of what it’s going to do. It seems very easy that it will lead to unintended consequences and then having it removed a few races down the road. It seems like F1 is just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. Please just stick with simplicity and let what happens happen, or bring on the sprinklers so I can finally quit watching.

  41. I think they feel sorry for Williams. Now they can score 18 points.

  42. I might support this idea if, and only if, it replaces pit stops for new tyres. In a scenario where the race is run start to finish, on the same set of tyres, setting fastest lap does have strategic consequences, and knowing the ultimate crossover point between tyre degradation disadvantage and low fuel advantage would be an interesting challenge.

  43. Again, this isn’t something that needs urgent attention. My suspicion is most of these extra points will end up in the hands of the top three teams.
    I guess it will add a bit more drama to the end of a race, but why not make it part of Qualifying? Oh yes, someone won a WDC on Saturday instead of on Sunday. So be it.
    I think this is just a distraction from getting the 2021 and Budget Cap rules sorted out.

    1. @drycrust

      Oh yes, someone won a WDC on Saturday instead of on Sunday. So be it.

      For promoters & broadcasters who often make a big promotional push to drive extra ticket sales & TV viewers to a title deciding race it would be a big problem.

      A title been decided after qualifying would inevitably hit ratings for the race & also potential last minute ticket sales & that would hit broadcasters & promoters financially which is why the idea of points for qualifying has always been something thats got a lot of push-back.

      1. @gt-racer Yes, those are good reasons to not want that to happen. Even so, I still think fastest lap should be done in Qualifying because that is part of the reason for Qualifying.
        The two years that I noticed mentioned were 2003 and 2007. In 2003 Michael Schumacher (93) beat Kimi Raikkonen (91). Schumacher finished in 8th place, so earned one point, while Raikkonen finished 2nd, worth 6 points. Meaning Raikkonen would have won the WDC if he’d finished first.
        There were three people in contention to win the WDC at the last race in 2007, it ended with just one point separating them.

  44. Ya know, I’m kinda intrigued to see this happen. It will certainly be interesting in the last few laps when all the back-markers put on new tires and go for a blast to pick up the point. Maybe it won’t work, but lets try it and see. If it ends up like elimination qualifying and gets canned after 3 races, its not like much will have been lost.

    1. If it ends up like elimination qualifying and gets canned after 3 races, its not like much will have been lost.

      except for the fact it will have affected the championship positions due to the awarded points.

      if its a silly idea that they drop but the points remain and a driver ends up winning the title due to it, its a farce in my book.

  45. Looks like Liberty have employed Bernie as a consultant, this sounds like one of his crazy ideas.

  46. What if two drivers locked on equal points fighting it out on track swapping fastest laps times multiple times. Then one of them is hampered by either the other driver or a back marker allowing the other driver to get or maintain the fasted lap and win the championship. Protests, accusations of bribery, collusion. It would bring the entire sport into disrepute.

  47. Can’t say i’m a fan of the idea to award bonus points be it for pole, fastest lap or anything else. Points should be awarded based on finishing positions & that’s it.

    Having points for fast lap is meaningless given how relatively easy it is likely going to be to bolt of a brand new set of soft’s with a few laps left & be a few seconds a lap faster.
    Is for example a Williams (If it’s the slowest car this year) pitting with 4 laps to go & on new tyres/low fuel managing to grab fast lap/1 point adding any value to anything? Would that point mean as much as the 1 point scored by the car that finished 10th by racing hard all day?

    It’s a gimmick. They may try to frame it otherwise but at the end of the day it’s only been introduced to try & artificially spice things up a bit so is therefore a gimmick.

  48. Something that I’ve given a little thought to for a while now.
    A single WDC point is awarded to the driver who makes up the most places throughout the race without reaching a top 10 point scoring position. You take the drivers initial grid position and subtract their finishing position. The driver with the greater number is awarded 1 point as long as they don’t finish in a regular point scoring position. In the case where that driver finishes 10th or better, the next highest scoring driver is awarded the point. Only 1 point is awarded per race. In the event of a tie, the driver who initially started in the lower grid position is awarded the point. A car would need to be classified as a finisher to qualify for the point. Without really thinking it through too much, I can’t see why a WCC point could not be awarded to the team as well. It would seem that it would encourage overtaking at the rear of the field as well as team strategy.

  49. Haven’t had much time to digest this but at first blush I have no problem with it. I would be surprised if a team actually pitted late for tires just to try to get the point, but if one team did it likely others would consider it something to do too, and so a race late in the race would ensue for fastest lap. Sounds exciting. Seems to me the usual suspects for this would be those with the fastest cars anyway though. I don’t see this as a gimmick but rather an incentive for drivers to keep going for it for the entire race rather than settling in their position and cruising it in.

  50. Jonesracing82
    7th March 2019, 1:54

    Then they’ll change it back after Driver X, 15th, pits with a lap to go for soft tyres to set fastest lap, like they didn’t see that one coming.

  51. Reminds me of RBR during their winning era.

    Vettel about 3 laps from the finish: “what is the fastest lap?”
    Rocky : “Don’t even think about it…..”

    Can’t say I’m a fan of this and a complete turn around from Carey’s statement yesterday. Sigh…

  52. Do we really want to see Kubica score points by pitting his Williams on the last lap..?

  53. I’m not sure if it’s a cracker.

    What I like though is the prospect of having cars components being pushed instead of getting into saving modes. F1 Championship was meant to challenge the machinery after all.

    However, if I’m to pick something to reward, it certainly would be the Grand Chelem.

  54. Great. This would make fastest lap somewhat more worthy. Maybe P1 wont simply cruise too victory

    P2 can also drop back if unable to overtake and simply go for an extra point.

  55. I would prefer to see a more level grid where teams could push for actual results rather than gimmicky points. Fix that, and you won’t need bonus points for fastest lap.

    I’m not against this, I initially thought it was a good idea, but I have I have 3 main concerns:

    1 – My main concern for this is that a driver fighting for 10th place might decide it’s not worth the battle and instead pit late, maybe even wait until there’s a big gap in the field and then put in a stormer to get the bonus point. It could even be after the chequered flag has been waved and there’d be no drama in seeing a sole car going fast with no battle.

    2 – A team who feel they’re not in running for any points (think Williams in 2018) could just deliberately qualify last and saunter around the track knowing that they have a good chance of pumping out a quick lap at the end and grabbing a point.

    3 – There is a chance it could decide the championship if it goes down to a single point, but it’s more likely that this would impact a non-top team who have more of an incentive to grab a point, and a major budget swing could be decided by a team choosing to not ‘race’ at the end of a Grand Prix and just do a qualifying lap instead.

  56. Matthew Bees
    7th March 2019, 8:33

    Wasn’t this something GP2 took on many years ago? But i think you could only score the additional point if the driver was in the top 10 only.
    So it didn’t matter if someone in 11th, pitted for fresh rubber and then set the fastest lap.

  57. Does anyone know who these “fans” are and what context they were asked about this change? Did they ask – of all the gimmicks we intend to introduce, which is the least worst that can be shoe-horned into this year’s rules? Leave the points alone – it’s not broken.

  58. I’d rather see this for qualifying on pole. It’s easy to avoid someone winning the championship on Saturday, only allow the extra point to be scored if they finish in the points on Sunday.

    For the fastest lap you should only get the extra point if you were both inside the top 10 and on the lead lap of the race (not lapped) when you set the time.

  59. I like the idea; another dimension to the race.

    I mean, I would prefer that over half the field would all equally be in contention for a win each weekend – but you can argue that that’s “not Formula 1”.

  60. According to sources, research undertaken by F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media shows that fans favour such a change as it could potentially ‘spice up’ a race towards the end, particularly where front-runners have dropped out of contention.

    Disheartening to see this being explained as the logic behind the decision. You can’t “crowdsource” these decisions. The peanut gallery is just that – a peanut gallery. Once you start basing decisions on market research, it indicates a lack of vision at the executive level.

Comments are closed.