Brawn says fastest lap point incentive worked as planned

Ross Brawn
Ross Brawn

Formula 1 managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn says that the return of a fastest lap bonus point proved popular.

The practice of rewarding the fastest lap with an extra championship point, for driver and constructor, was a late addition to this year’s sporting regulations.

In a somewhat uneventful season-opener, the battle for that point became the key point of intrigue as the race wore on.

Max Verstappen took over the fastest lap with a 1:26.540s on Lap 54 before Mercedes winner Valtteri Bottas beat him with a 1:25.580s on Lap 57.

“In Melbourne, we got a first chance to experience the effects of the various changes introduced this year in terms of the technical and sporting regulations," wrote Brawn in his column on the official F1 website.

“The return to awarding a point to the driver and team who set the race fastest lap livened up the closing stages of the race, as Verstappen tried to nudge out Bottas, who had his hands on that particular prize.

“In a race in which the podium positions seemed set from early on, the fight to claim that one extra point, in the knowledge that it could be vitally important in the closing stages of the championship, certainly livened up the closing stages of the race.

“That was exactly what we and the FIA had in mind when it came up with the idea."

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