6 days Ago By Sam Cooper
Charles Leclerc has led the support of F1’s decision to get rid of the fastest lap bonus point and said it “wasn’t really rewarding a particular skill.” Having introduced a single bonus point for putting in the fastest lap of the race in 2019, the FIA has opted to drop it for the 2025 season. Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock The announcement of the decision to do so came just after RB driver Daniel Ricciardo took the bonus point off Lando Norris in Singapore, allowing Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen to keep a bigger title advantage, but the drivers have generally been in support of the decision.
Leclerc said it was not a reward for a skill but instead dependent on fortune. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Leclerc said to media including PlanetF1.com.
“Honestly, I’ve always felt like this point was very superficial, because it always depends on your race situation and it wasn’t really rewarding a particular skill in a way, because it was more about finding yourself in a lucky position where you call pit stop and do that fastest lap. “So I think it’s good that it’s been taken off.” George Russell was another who supported the move, remarking that he always thought the bonus point was “a bit pointless.
” “It would always be the driver who was having a tough race in the top 10 would pit, put new tyres on, and gain the extra point,” Russell said. “So I never really saw the benefit of that so sort of glad to see that that’s gone.” Carlos Sainz spoke in similar terms, suggesting that it is not going to the person who is actually fastest.
“I always was of the opinion that it was a not-needed point in the points system of Formula 1, mainly because of how it is achieved,” he said. “Right now, that point goes to the one that has a free pit stop one lap to the end of the race. “So it’s not showing who is the fastest guy in the race, and he deserves one point for being the fastest guy.
“It’s a point that goes to the guy that by chance or by luck or by race situation has a free pit stop at some point of the race.” F1 penalty points: Max Verstappen more than halfway to race ban after Brazil VSC incident Top 10: The drivers with the highest win percentages in F1 history Sainz suggested an alternative and that would be to give a point for the driver on pole. “Pole position is something that, at least in Formula 1, is given a lot of value,” Sainz, who has qualified on pole six times in his career, said.
“Qualifying is something that media people keep a lot of importance to know and obviously as drivers in qualifying, we like being the fastest because it shows you’ve maybe have done the cleanest lap. You’ve taken maybe more risks. You’ve put everything on the line to go on pole.
And a point for that in a tight field makes sense. “In a field where only one car is going to get all the pole positions makes less sense. But in the ideal scenario of a tight field and one guy going for it in qualifying and getting that pole position, I think it could make more sense than the fastest lap of the race.
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