F1 set to award point for fastest lap in 2019

Formula 1 is set to introduce a point for the driver who sets the fastest lap out of the top ten finishers during the 2019 season. 

The late rule tweak is expected to come into action in time for the 2019 F1 world championship which starts next weekend with the Australian Grand Prix (March 15-17), representing Liberty Media's latest effort to spice up racing.

Having already been approved by the FIA's world motor sport council (WMSC), the move must now be ratified by the F1 Commission and the Strategy Working Group before officially being applied to this year's sporting regulations ahead of the opening race in Melbourne. 

It will be the first time since the early years of the world championship during the 1950s that F1 has awarded a point for fastest lap. 

While the initiative is set to be pushed through in a bid to add another element of intrigue to the sport, such a move would have had little impact on the complexion of recent world championship fights. 

Since the turn of the millennium, points for fastest lap would have changed the outcome of a title on just one occasion in 2008, with Felipe Massa coming out on top of his duel with Lewis Hamilton. 

With the bonus point only being applied for a driver who finishes inside of the top 10, F1 is primed to follow a format used in Formula E. 

The all-electric series also offers three points for pole position, and while it is understood such a similar proposal for F1 was considered, the concept was ultimately dropped over concerns that a world championship could be decided on a Saturday and therefore detract from the race on Sunday. 

Haydn Cobb contributed to this article.