DHL Fastest Lap Award: FORMULA 1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX 2019 (Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes)

Five-time Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton is well on his way to securing both his sixth World Championship title and the DHL Fastest Lap Award in 2019. Once again, the Mercedes driver posted the fastest race lap in the Japanese GP on Suzuka's world-famous circuit.

As a result, the British driver has taken the new bonus point introduced in 2019 in three of the last four races. Overall this season, Hamilton has now posted five DHL Fastest Laps. If he can set the fastest lap once more at the next GP in Mexico, then his closest rival, Max Verstappen (3 DHL Fastest Laps), can only draw level with him in the remaining three fixtures of the season.

Strategy helped Hamilton set the fastest lap at Suzuka. Mercedes called him in on Lap 42 for a late pit stop and bolted soft tires on the ace driver's car for one final sprint. Three laps later, Hamilton used the soft Pirelli tires mounted on a car which was by now very light to burn a 1:30.983 into the asphalt.

Hamilton's fabulous time enabled him to set a new lap record for the Suzuka International Racing Course, breaking Kimi Räikkönen's previous best which had stood for 14 years. In 2005, the Iceman, who was still with McLaren back then, drove to victory from grid slot 17, posting a 1:31.540 on the way. Hamilton was thus more than half-a-second faster and beat the second-fastest driver over a lap, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc (+ 0.628 secs), by a big margin.

In the overall standings, Hamilton now has five fastest race laps to his name and leads from Max Verstappen with three. Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel (all with 2) have only a slim chance on paper of winning the 2019 DHL Fastest Lap Award.

Explore more:

Find us on:

About this channel:
Welcome to the official YouTube channel of DHL, the global market leader in the logistics industry and The Logistics Company for the world. In our videos, we guide you through our work space and show you moments of achievement and innovation with our partners. Hit the subscribe button now, stay up to date, and gain exclusive insights.