F1 fastest lap, explained
The fastest laps in F1 are set in qualifying, on light fuel and fresh tyres, not in the race. Lewis Hamilton's pole lap at Monza in 2020, averaging over 264 km/h, was the fastest in the sport's history when he set it. A bonus point for the fastest lap of a race existed from 2019, but the FIA scrapped it for the 2025 season.
What "fastest lap" means
The fastest lap is simply the quickest single lap time, and the outright quickest laps come in qualifying rather than the race.[2] In qualifying a car runs with minimal fuel and fresh, soft tyres on one flat-out effort, while race laps carry heavy fuel and nurse the tyres, so they are slower.[2]
The fastest lap in F1 history
Monza, the fastest circuit on the calendar, holds the benchmark. Lewis Hamilton's pole lap there in 2020, at an average of more than 264 kilometres per hour, was the fastest lap in Formula 1 history at the time he set it.[1] Because it is a record of outright speed, drivers chip away at it whenever the cars and conditions align at Monza, and it has since been beaten as the cars have grown quicker.[1]
The fastest-lap point, and why it is gone
From 2019, a driver who set the fastest lap of a race also scored a bonus championship point, but only if they finished inside the top ten.[3] The FIA scrapped that point for the 2025 season, so the fastest lap is once again a matter of pride and record books rather than championship reward.[3]
:::analysis The bonus point was a neat idea that grew awkward in practice. Because only a top-ten finisher could claim it, leading teams sometimes pitted a driver late for fresh tyres purely to steal the point, occasionally nudging the title race. Removing it took a small but real distortion out of strategy.
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Related reading
- [1]Hamilton's fastest-ever F1 lap at Monza 2020 (Formula1.com) (formula1). Accessed 2026-06-20.
- [2]2020 Italian Grand Prix (Wikipedia) (wikipedia-en). Accessed 2026-06-20.
- [3]Fastest-lap point scrapped for 2025 (Formula1.com) (formula1). Accessed 2026-06-20.