DHL FASTEST LAP AWARD

FORMULA 1® DELIVERED BY DHL

All about speed

Scoring a Formula 1® victory is all about speed; but is the winner always the fastest? Redefining our standards of speed, the DHL Fastest Lap Award is one for fierce competitors. This is how it works: one driver sets the fastest lap at each race - the award will go to the man who sets the most over the season.

Pure speed

To win will require pure speed – something we at DHL know all about. As the world's leading logistics provider and Official Logistics Partner of Formula 1, we achieve our goals by shortening international routes, facilitating global trade and making the world a smaller place.

Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix 2024

Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit

Fastest Lap Video

Australia sees red

Red Bull have won 40 of the last 47 races, 36 of them with Max Verstappen, but instead of sweeping all before him once again, Max had a DNF at the very same circuit in Australia where he last retired in 2022.

His first retirement in 43 races. Fire instead of the Dutch national anthem. It became instead a day of celebration for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz's come-back from hospital bed to race winner and Charles Leclerc's pre-Easter gift of P2 for the Tifosi. The extra point for the fastest race lap then put the icing on the cake.

"That was very important," said Charles Leclerc with evident pleasure after the race. "It's been a long time since we've able to keep up with Red Bull's terrific pace. We don't know how fast Max might have been, but we already knew in first practice that pole position and the race win were possible."

The first Ferrari one-two victory since Bahrain 2022 and the first in Australia since Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in 2004. Apart from George Russell in Brazil 2022, no one apart from the Scuderia has been able to defeat Red Bull (except in the sprint). The recipe for success in Melbourne was the SF-24's very good tire wear and its excellent pace on a lap, like in racing trim.

Whenever Red Bull fails, Ferrari is there. "Carlos did it today," said Leclerc. "And when I look back at the first three races, there isn't one where we didn't attain the maximum. We have to keep doing that until we have a car that is consistently better than the Red Bull, especially in the race."

Sainz, not Leclerc, managed that on two occasions, in Singapore in 2023, and again in 2024 in Australia. The driver from Monaco was well aware from the first pit stop in Melbourne that he would lose out yet again. "Carlos was very fast, but I had problems with the tires," said Leclerc, being quite frank. "He did a better job than me all weekend."

Even in qualifying, Charles Leclerc had the worst-placed Ferrari with P5 (P4 after Sergio Perez's penalty). Carlos Sainz started from P2 and had a clear path forward after Verstappen's retirement. But Leclerc on the other hand had to hold off the two McLaren drivers, especially over the first stint, and then was made to struggle with graining on the hard tires.

Things were pretty clear in the end after an undercut and better pace. "The last stint was really good, but not good enough," said Leclerc, giving us the benefit of his analysis. "Carlos was simply better this weekend." Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri came home behind him in P3 and P4.

With two laps to go to the finish, 26-year-old Charles Leclerc again defeated Lando Norris, taking the fastest lap away from him. After his success in Saudi Arabia, he secured the extra point once again with a time of 1:19.813 around the 5.278-kilometer Albert Park circuit and is now within four points of Max Verstappen.

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All Positions

How the drivers' performance improved during the course of the season

2024 Season

Previous winners

SeasonDriverTeamDHL Fastest Laps
2023Max VerstappenRed Bull9
2022Max VerstappenRed Bull5
2021Lewis HamiltonMercedes6
2020Lewis HamiltonMercedes6
2019Lewis HamiltonMercedes6
2018Valtteri BottasMercedes7
2017Lewis HamiltonMercedes7
2016Nico RosbergMercedes6
2015Lewis HamiltonMercedes8
2014Lewis HamiltonMercedes7
2013Sebastian VettelRed Bull7
2012Sebastian VettelRed Bull6
2011Mark WebberRed Bull7
2010Fernando AlonsoFerrari5
2009Sebastian VettelRed Bull3
2008Kimi RäikkönenFerrari10
2007Kimi RäikkönenFerrari6

Formula 1® Logistics Hub

Join us on our biggest season yet

2023 Season

All the stats, facts and figures for the 2023 DHL Fastest Lap Award.