THE FASTEST driver of the 2024 Formula One season has been revealed.
Earlier this month saw the end of the thrilling 2024 F1 season, with the drivers championship title going to Max Verstappen and the constructors title going to McLaren.
Max Verstappen was the F1 world champion again but was left behind when it came to top speed[/caption]
In fact, Williams Franco Colapinto clocked the top speed of the season[/caption]
But the 21-year-old is without a seat next year[/caption]
The season featured seven different race winners and 10 different drivers on the podium, while three rookies made unexpected debuts after the field had originally remained the same from 2023.
The first of these was Ollie Bearman, who will be joining the grid next season as a permanent addition after three sub appearances.
Franco Colapinto and Jack Doohan both transferred in to replace Logan Sargeant at Williams and Esteban Ocon at Alpine respectively.
Despite his good work, Colapinto failed to earn a seat as one of six rookies for the 2025 season – the others not already mentioned being Kimi Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson.
Yet remarkably, 21-year-old Colapinto is the star who topped the speed charts for the 2024 season.
He secured the quickest top speed of the season at the Las Vegas Grand Prix with a pace of 356.4km/h (221.5mph).
In second place for the season with 353.5km/h (219.7mph) was Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at the Italian Grand Prix at the suitably nicknamed Temple of Speed.
In third was another driver who is unemployed for the 2025 season in the form of Daniel Ricciardo, who ran out with a score of 353.2km/h (219.5mph) also at Italy’s Monza circuit.
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However, Colapinto’s speed pales in comparison to the qualifying record set by Valtteri Bottas in 2016 at the European Grand Prix when he was clocked at a staggering 378 km/h (234.878 mph).
However, top speed alone is not enough to convert into race points.
Following his top speed achievement during qualifying in Vegas, Colapinto would later crash out by smashing into a wall.
Pole position in that race was eventually won by Mercedes’ George Russell with a time of 1:32.312, while Colapinto’s quickest lap time was 1:33.746 set in the first session.
That being said, most pole positions for the season were shared by Verstappen and Lando Norris with eight each.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton failed to win a single pole position, but did earn the award for the fastest lap in a race twice.
The winner of this metric was Norris, who lapped the quickest lap during six races.
F1 2025 grid
Here are the confirmed driver line ups for the F1 2025 season:
Red Bull: Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson
Ferrari: Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes: George Russell and Kimi Antonelli
McLaren: Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Aston Martin: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll
Williams: Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz
Sauber: Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto
Alpine: Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan
RB: Yuki Tsunoda and Isack Hadjar
Haas: Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon
