Fastest Lap Trophy History
Hall of Fame
The DHL Fastest Lap Trophy has made for exciting memories and remarkable statistics in its five-year history. On three separate occasions there has been a tie at the top, meaning second-fastest laps and in one case third-fastest laps had to be counted to determine the winner. And only once has the DHL Fastest Lap Award and the Driver’s World Championship gone to the same driver.
2007 - Kimi Räikkönen
In 2007 – the very first year that DHL recognized Formula 1’s Fastest Lap winner – Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen triumphed, topping the podium six times and recording six Fastest Laps. But his Brazilian teammate Filipe Massa had also bagged six Fastest Laps along with his three wins on the season.
Fastest Lap Trophy History
Hall of Fame
The count to determine the winner got a little complicated, with organizers having to go back as far as third-fastest laps. Kimi’s three third-fastest laps to Felipe’s two made him the winner of the 2007 DHL Fastest Lap Award. Together, the two Ferrari drivers displayed dependable driving over the year that projected their team to the Constructors’ World Championship.
2008 - Kimi Räikkönen
The following year saw the pendulum swing the other way as one driver left the rest of the grid in the dust. While McLaren pilot Lewis Hamilton scored five Grand Prix victories on his way to the 2008 Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship, reigning Drivers’ Champion Räikkönen easily won the race for the 2008 DHL Fastest Lap Award with a remarkable, record-tying ten fastest laps.
Fastest Lap Trophy History
Hall of Fame
This remains by far the highest figure on record since the DHL Fastest Lap trophy has been awarded and ties the most ever recorded in a season (Michael Schumacher, 2004, Ferrari). Kimi’s teammate Felipe Massa again took second with three Fastest Laps. Considering the consistent high performance these two drivers displayed, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that team Ferrari won the Constructors’ World Championship for the second year in a row!
2009 - Sebastian Vettel scores on count backs
The 2009 season confirmed that the race for the DHL Fastest Lap trophy was going to be an exciting one to watch year in and year out. It was the F1 season that saw the greatest number of fastest-lap winners, with the race going right down to the wire.
Fastest Lap Trophy History
Hall of Fame
Coming in to the last race at Abu Dhabi, Red Bull’s Mark Webber led the fastest lap leader board with three to his teammate Sebastian Vettel’s two. The two finished the race less than 18 seconds apart, with Vettel leading the Red Bull Racing 1-2, but on the second-to-last lap the German found his Fahrvergnügen and increased his tally of fastest laps to three to tie Webber. His effort paid off as he ultimately won on second-fastest lap count backs.
What was remarkable in 2009 was that so many drivers had clambered up on to the leader board. No less than ten pilots recorded fastest laps over the 17-race season.
Fastest Lap Trophy History
Hall of Fame
Besides Vettel and Webber of Red Bull, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello of BrawnGP, the Toyota drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, plus Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso for Renault, Nico Rosberg in the Williams-Toyota, and Force India’s Adrian Sutil all took home fastest laps.
2010 - Fernando Alonso
The 2010 World Drivers’ Championship came down to the final Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi where fans saw Sebastian Vettel score his fifth victory of the season to match Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso five and snatch the title away from the Spaniard’s grasp in the points running. The running for the Fastest Lap Trophy also showed five apiece between McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Alonso.
Fastest Lap Trophy History
Hall of Fame
At the end, the Ferrari driver’s consistent performance throughout the season won him the 2010 DHL Fastest Lap Trophy as he had grabbed more second-fastest laps than Hamilton on the year.
2011 - Mark Webber
Team Red Bull Racing scored a hat trick in 2011 when Sebastian Vettel won the World Drivers’ Championship, the team took home the World Constructors’ Championship and Mark Webber snatched up DHL Fastest Lap Trophy. What looked to be a blowout early on ended in a thrilling chase into the twilight hours of the season. After only six Grand Prix, Webber had already pulled way out in front with four fastest laps to his name.
Fastest Lap Trophy History
Hall of Fame
It would be seven races before he grabbed his fifth fastest lap of the season, but both McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa had collected two apiece by that time and were driving well. Jump five races ahead and Webber now had teammate Sebastian Vettel on his tail alongside Hamilton and Massa, each with three fastest laps and only two races to go.
The Australian sealed the deal at the second-to-last GP in Abu Dhabi and drove a fan-pleasing, seventh-fastest-lap encore at the final race of the season in Sao Paolo, a performance that also earned him his first checkered flag in 2011. Michael Schumacher holds the record for the largest number of fastest laps in the history of the Formula 1, with 76.
Fastest Lap Trophy History
Hall of Fame
He is followed by four-time Formula 1 Drivers’ Champion Alain Prost with 41 and Kimi Räikkönen with 35. Of the other drivers still competing, Fernando Alonso has 18 and AT&T Williams’ Rubens Barrichello has 17.
