In motorsport, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race. Some racing series, like Formula One, Formula 2 and Formula E award championship points for a driver or team that set the fastest lap.
In Formula One, 139 different drivers have made fastest race laps. Michael Schumacher holds the record for the highest number of fastest laps with 77, followed by Lewis Hamilton with 67. Since 2007, the DHL Fastest Lap Award is given to the driver with the most fastest laps in a season.[1]
Between 1950-1959 and 2019-2024, an extra point is given to the driver who records the fastest lap during a race.[2] Between 2019 and 2024, the point can only be awarded if the driver achieving the fastest lap finishes the race in 10th position or better.[3] The point will be discontinued for the 2025 season.[4]
Fastest laps are often set during the final laps of a race. Lap times often decrease as tracks get "rubbered in" and fuel weights go down as a race progresses.
Top ten drivers in Formula One history with the most fastest laps
In recent studies the LeMans endurance project has been reconfiguring Formula One racecars and making them faster by reconfiguring powertrain configurations. These powertrain reconfigurations have drastically been able to cut the time of the fastest lap achievable by Formula One racecars. This team also studied the capabilities of Formula One racecars and studied how to improve the performance of the cars. Ultimately they designed a powertrain configuration that cut the fastest lap time achievable by a standard Formula One racecar by over 20 seconds.[6]
Formula One aerodynamics studies
A researcher at Durham University studied the aerodynamic effects on Formula One racecars and how to make them more efficient and ultimately faster. A Formula One racecar's lap time advantage is the result of the cornering performance of the vehicle. If the tyres can have more grip there would be more friction and less slippage which would allow the car to go faster through corners, and subsequently decrease the time it takes to complete a lap. Also if the powertrain had more power and if the car experienced less drag then it could achieve a faster lap time.[7]
Autocross is a competition normally conducted by a single vehicle and driver on an open paved surface where the driver races against the clock while trying to achieve the fastest lap possible. In autocross drivers can learn how to achieve a faster lap through studying data of their vehicles.[9] This data can be collected by many various systems and analyzed to produce faster more aerodynamic vehicles.
^"Statistics". MotoGP.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2019. Select Riders' race fastest laps, all seasons, all classes, all countries, all tracks.
^Strand, Stephen (2015). Motorsport performance analysis: A spatio-temporal approach (Thesis). ProQuest1659817271.
